An Unexpected Alliance - A Matt Houston Story
by boswifedeb
Summary: Matt is helping Hoyt with a case involving two brothers who have been murdered, but what happens when working the case nearly turns deadly for one of the detectives and the other receives help from a most unexpected source? **Immediately follows "Harvest of Death"**Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**An Unexpected Alliance**

****This story immediately follows "Harvest of Death"****

"**Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better,**

**you have to take things into your own hands."**

**Clint Eastwood **

**CHAPTER 1**

"Hey, I'm gone. Call you when I get out." Matt walked into CJ's office and gave her a kiss goodbye then walked over and picked up Catey Rose and gave her a kiss as well and received a slightly sloppy kiss back from the now six month old.

"Well good luck, college boy." CJ grinned at Matt. He had to take an exam for his first Fire Technology class. He was taking a few classes to help him with his new consultant job to the Fire Marshal's office.

"Thanks, Babe. See you later." He took off out the door and down the steps.

"Knock 'em dead, Boss." Chris Chase gave Matt a big smile.

"I'll do my best." He grinned as he stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button for the parking garage. As he headed down he was running through everything that might be on the exam. Matt had spent a good deal of time studying and thought that he shouldn't have too much trouble with it – but he had to admit that he was just a little nervous. It had been quite a while since he had been in school. As he made his way through traffic he continued to run through what he had learned in the last few weeks and when he parked in the lot of the college, Matt was feeling pretty good about the exam on Fire Behavior which covered combustion and the ways in which fires start, how they spread, and ways in which fires can be controlled. Right before he walked into the lecture hall, he turned his phone off.

Two hours later Matt walked back out of the classroom and heaved a sigh of relief. The exam had been a lot easier than he had thought it would. He turned on his phone and immediately noticed a call from Lt. Michael Hoyt of the LAPD. He pushed the send button and got Hoyt's cell phone. "Hey, I just turned my phone back on. What's going on?" Matt leaned against the hood of his truck.

"Sorry, I forgot you had your exam today. How did it go?" Hoyt stood and watched as two ME's assistants loaded two body bags into the back of their van.

"Real good. It was the mid-term so I'll have another one before the end of the year and then next semester I have a Fundamentals of Fire Chemistry class. That's probably going to be the toughest one. So did you need something?"

"Yes, I do. Think you can meet me at 422 South Union?" Hoyt watched as Cheryl Crawford pulled up.

"Sure, it's probably going to be twenty to thirty minutes or so. Is that okay?" Matt pulled out his keys and opened up the door on the truck and hopped in.

"I'll be here. Thanks." Hoyt hung up and walked over to help Cheryl lug her gear upstairs to the office where the murders had occurred.

Matt punched the number for his office into the phone and hit the speaker button. "Hey Chris, is CJ still there?"

"She sure is. Hang on." Chris put him on hold. "CJ, Houston's on line one."

"Thanks." CJ picked up the phone and punched the button. "Hi there, how'd it go?"

"Real good. Hoyt called while I was in the exam. I just called him back and he wants me to meet him on South Union. Not sure what's going on just yet." He stopped at a traffic light.

"Okay, I'll see when you get back. Be careful, hon."

"I will. Love you, Babe. 'Bye." He hung up and drove on down to South Union, getting there quicker than he had thought possible. When he arrived he put the ID around his neck that had been issued to him by the department and flashed it at the young patrolman who was guarding the perimeter. As he went up the stairs he noticed that the first floor office was occupied by an accountant. When he reached the top of the stairs he saw that the crime scene was in the office of a Dr. Emmitt J. Lovelace, DDS. He looked around, noticing two patches of blood on the floor of the waiting room before carefully stepping inside. "Hoyt? You in here?"

"Yeah, come on down the hallway." The sixteen year veteran of the LAPD stuck his head out of a doorway. "We're back here."

Matt walked on back and stood in the doorway of the small exam room. "Hey there, Cheryl. How's it going?" Cheryl Crawford, in Matt's opinion, was the best crime scene investigator that the LAPD had.

"Pretty good. Hoyt here tells me you were at school." She grinned over at the private eye.

"Yep. Had an exam to take. What happened here?" He slipped on a pair of gloves and pulled up the knees of his blue jeans before squatting down over the body of what appeared to be the dentist who had been shot in the heart.

"Meet Dr. Emmitt J. Lovelace, DDS. Age 41. He's been in practice in this office for the last fifteen years. He was married up until three years ago when he got divorced, two kids, both in high school. Ex-wife is a real estate agent. The lady here is Francine Travis, age 32, single, two kids. She's the receptionist here." Travis was lying in the floor on the opposite side of the exam chair.

"I noticed a couple of puddles of blood in the waiting room." Matt stood up and walked around to get a look at the receptionist who also appeared to have been shot in the heart. She had a terrified expression on her face.

"Yeah, there was an older couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Coffee. Both shot in the heart apparently. The ME's folks have already taken them. From what I can tell they were shot first, the receptionist ran back here to the doc and then they were both killed here." Hoyt looked over at Matt.

"This is an awfully small office to be holding four dead bodies." Matt put his hands on his hips and looked around the room. The cabinet that held the drugs used by the dentist had a lock on it and a small ring of keys were in the lock. He pointed at it as he stepped over that way. "I wonder if they were after something in here?"

Cheryl stepped over to it. "I don't know, but I'm about to dust it for prints." She pulled out a container of the fine dust used in collecting prints and a brush with extremely fine bristles. As the two men looked on, she applied the powder to the handle of the cabinet as well as the key that was inserted into the lock. Prints showed up on both items and she collected them using the lift tape in her kit. She scanned all three prints, two from the key and one from the handle. "And we…don't have diddly. They aren't in the system."

"They could belong to the doc." Matt looked around some more and noticed a cell phone sitting on the work counter. It had already been dusted for prints and was in an evidence bag. "Where did you find this?"

"Right where it's sitting." Cheryl went back to checking for prints in various areas of the office.

Looking around, Matt really didn't see anything else out of place or that would point them in the direction of a killer. He walked out to the reception area and looked around there. Cheryl had already dusted the area. Matt saw the patient file for Theodore Coffee and looked through it - he had apparently been coming in to get fitted for dentures. After looking around a little more he still didn't spot anything that looked suspicious and so headed back down the hallway. There was another exam room and he looked around in there not spotting anything and then went to the last room on the other side of the hall. It was Dr. Lovelace's private office. Cheryl hadn't made it back that far so Matt carefully opened the drawers on the desk but didn't see anything incriminating until he went to close the top left drawer and it got hung up. Hoyt was standing in the doorway watching him as he pulled it back out, then squatted down and looked at the underside. "Well, well – what do we have here?" He pulled the drawer out a little further as Hoyt walked around to join him. "An envelope taped to the underside of a drawer. How original." Matt carefully pulled it loose and opened it up. Inside was a stack of hundred dollar bills. "Maybe he didn't trust banks, huh?" He looked up at Hoyt.

"Who knows?" The detective walked out and told Cheryl about what they had found and she said she would process that room next. When he walked back in, Matt was about to walk out.

The private investigator stepped into the small restroom and looked around in the cabinet under the sink and even lifted the cover of the toilet tank but didn't find anything. "I didn't see anything else in there that was even vaguely interesting." They walked back up to the waiting room. Matt had been looking around the entire office but there were no surveillance cameras. He hadn't really expected to find any, but it would have been nice. Shrugging his shoulders he looked at Hoyt.

"I guess you're wondering why I asked you here today." He grinned at Matt. "God, I've always wanted to use that line." The private eye rolled his eyes and grinned. "What I didn't tell you was that Dr. Lovelace's brother was murdered last week."

"Oh really? Well that does make it interesting. Any leads?" Matt had been in Texas the week before and hadn't heard about the other murder.

"Nada. About like here, except we didn't find any money under the desk drawer – but we did find a big bag of pills in the tank of the john." He started toward the door and Matt followed, taking off his gloves as he went.

"And what did the other Mr. Lovelace do for a living?" The two men stepped out onto the sidewalk, Matt thoughtfully rubbing the beard on his face.

"He was a chiropractor. Feel like coming to the office for a look at the file?" Hoyt started toward his car.

"I'll be right there." Matt got into his truck and followed the police detective to the station. As the pair stepped off of the elevator both detectives stopped by the coffee pot, then headed into the lieutenant's office where Matt was given the file on the other murder. He plopped down on the couch and started reading as he sipped on the coffee.

"How was Texas?" Hoyt sat down behind his desk.

Matt grinned and pulled out his phone. He pulled up the pictures and handed the phone over to Michael. "Take a look at Tony. He had quite a week." Tony was the youngest son of Matt's other best friend, Vince Novelli. Vince had previously held the job that was now Michael's.

"Oh man, that calf is almost as big as him!" Hoyt laughed as he looked through the photos. He saw one of Matt and Catey Rose as they rode a horse. "Wow, she is really getting big." Michael as well as Vince claimed Catey as a niece.

Matt smiled. "I thought you might like that one. And you'll never guess what she did." He put the folder down for a minute.

"What?" Hoyt looked over at the new father expecting him to tell him that she had crawled for the first time.

"Well I had her on the floor of the den and she crawled over to the coffee table and then pulled herself up and stood there." Matt was grinning from ear to ear.

"Really? I figured you were going to tell me she crawled but I sure wasn't expecting her to stand up."

"Neither was I – shocked the hell out of me." He chuckled and picked up the folder and began reading up on Curtis Lovelace. He had been in practice for almost twenty years at the time of his death. His office had been about ten blocks from his brother's. Lovelace's receptionist had found him when she came to work on Tuesday morning. Nothing appeared to be out of place in the office and there was nothing suspicious found until Hoyt came across a large plastic bag of pills in the toilet tank. It had contained Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Demerol. Matt looked up at Hoyt. "This guy had a regular pharmacy in the john, huh?"

"Yep." He walked over and handed the phone back to Matt.

"So he was the only one found in the office, unlike at the dentist's office." He closed the file. None of the prints found had been in the system. "I wonder if any of the prints that Cheryl got this morning match the ones found here?" He tapped the file folder with his index finger.

"Don't know yet. She's going to check that when she gets back to the lab." He sat down on the couch next to Matt. "I interviewed the accountant and his secretary downstairs from the dentist. They both thought he was a straight shooter. No complaints, nothing against the man."

"Well he may have been. Just because he had the envelope under the drawer doesn't mean he got it illegally." Houston sat and thought for a minute. "I'm going to go back to the office and see what I can find out about these two. And while I'm at it…" He pulled out his notebook and wrote down the name of the chiropractor's receptionist. "Anything else?"

"Nope. The whole deal is just weird." Hoyt stood up as Matt headed for the door. "And tell Miss Catey Rose her uncle says congratulations." He grinned at the proud smile on Matt's face.

"I'll be sure to tell her that." He waved and headed on out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

When Matt got back to the office his stomach was rumbling and as he stepped off of the elevator he smiled: he could smell fried chicken. He followed his nose into the office and over to the poker table where there was a bag from Sabrina's Restaurant. CJ was behind the bar getting a bottle of formula for Catey. "Daddy's got good timing, doesn't he?" The pair came over and Matt gave both of his ladies a kiss and then put the baby into her high chair. CJ had a jar of baby food ready for her and Matt put a bib on his daughter who was squealing with delight as she heard the jar of food pop open. Both of her parents laughed as she licked her lips in anticipation. "Who knew strained peas were so much fun?" CJ started feeding the baby as Matt pulled out their plates of food and removed the tops.

"Oh man, you did a great job, CJ. I was ready to eat the steering wheel on the way over here." He added pepper to his mashed potatoes and waited for CJ to get done with Catey. After a couple of minutes the baby wanted her bottle and took it from her mom, leaning back in the high chair with a satisfied look on her face as she turned up the bottle and drank from it. "Ya little sot!" Matt laughed as Catey chugged on the bottle. She liked to hold the bottle herself these days and got upset if anyone else did it – unless she was extremely sleepy.

As he and CJ started in on their lunch, he told her about the cases that Hoyt wanted help with and about what had been found in the offices of the two brothers. "Now that is weird. I wonder if the money had anything to do with the drugs?"

Matt shrugged. "Don't know. I'm going to see what I can find out about them this afternoon." He looked over at his daughter who was eyeing his mashed potatoes. "I can't share with you, kiddo – they're loaded down with pepper and I really don't think you would like that." He watched as she stuck her hand in her mouth. "Hello, whatcha got there?" He leaned over and pulled down her bottom lip. "Aha, she's getting a tooth. Looky here." He showed CJ.

"Well I sure didn't see that earlier. You're getting sneaky, aren't you?" She played with Catey's hair that was dark like both of her parent's. She had several cute little curls that reminded CJ of Matt's. Catey gurgled and grinned. "She's a lot like her daddy."

"She's a lot like her mama, too." He reached across and took his wife's hand, giving it a squeeze.

After lunch, Matt took Catey down to the nursery and put her down for a nap after singing to her for a few minutes, then came back up and sat down next to his wife on the couch where she had pulled up BABY the computer and had started finding information on the Lovelace brothers. "I started at the beginning. Curtis was born August 8, 1966 in Oxnard. Emmitt was born June 3, 1971, also in Oxnard. The parents were Mr. and Mrs. Paul Lovelace. Mr. Lovelace was an insurance salesman and Mrs. Lovelace was a homemaker. Nothing criminal on either one of them." She tapped a couple more keys. "The Lovelace brothers went through school without any problems. Curtis had a scholarship to UCLA and then went to school in Loma Linda to become a chiropractor. Emmitt went to UCLA as well then on to dental school at Pomona. No criminal background on either one of them." They both leaned back on the couch.

"What about Emmitt's ex-wife?" Matt felt like he was grasping at straws.

CJ punched a few more keys. "Uh huh. Well this is a lot more interesting. It seems that the former Mrs. Lovelace had a record – possession, possession with intent… they were divorced about three years ago. She claimed he was having an affair with his receptionist."

"Would that have been Francine Travis by chance?" Matt looked up at the screen. "Ah hah. So it was. She was still working for him." He read a little further. "Oh boy, I wonder if Hoyt knows about this?" He picked up the phone and dialed the lieutenant's number. "Hey, did you know that Emmitt Lovelace and his receptionist had a kid together?"

"No, I didn't. I sent one of the other detectives to notify her mother." He leaned back in the desk chair. "Anything else interesting?"

"Only that the former Mrs. Lovelace had two drug convictions – the first for possession, the second possession with intent. And the reason for the divorce – he was having an affair with the receptionist. Think you can find out the date of birth on the kid? The divorce was about three years ago."

"I will see what I can find out. Talk to you later." Hoyt hung up and called a friend who worked at the Bureau of Vital Statistics.

Meanwhile, Matt and CJ tried to find out all they could on Francine Travis. "Here's the birth announcement right here. May 9, 2009. So that was right around the time of the divorce." CJ had found the announcement when she Goggled the woman's name.

Matt picked up the phone again and called Hoyt right back. He got put on hold. After a minute Hoyt answered. "Hey we just found the birthdate – May 9, 2009."

"That's good because my friend wasn't at work. Anything else?"

"Nope not yet. I'll call you." Matt hung up.

"Francine Travis also had a drug conviction – five years ago. Nothing major, though, just possession." CJ continued to search. "Looks like I've hit a brick wall on her. Let me go back to the ex-wife." She tapped several keys. "Alright, the newspaper had a report on the drug bust here. She got caught with about half a pound or so of pot. What is something like that worth?" CJ looked over at Matt.

"Now how in the hell would I know?" He looked at her like she had lost her mind. "I never did anything like that – the worst I did was get drunk. You know that."

"Well you don't have to get so upset. I just thought you might have heard something about it when you were out running around with Michael. Don't get your knickers in a knot."

"Knickers? What knickers?" He wiggled his eyebrows at his wife causing both of them to crack up. "And no, I wasn't upset, I was just teasing you." Matt rubbed her shoulders. "But I really don't have any idea."

They continued to look into the people associated with the case and didn't find anything else. Matt sat and thought for a minute. "Okay one more question: did the Lovelace brothers have any other siblings?"

CJ went back to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Lovelace. "As a matter of fact there was a third child – Maureen." She tapped a few more keys. "I've found a marriage license from 1992 for her. She married Lorenzo Adolfo. And…" CJ hit some more keys. "Uh huh. Lorenzo is quite the entrepreneur. He deals in produce – of the illegal variety." They read on about Adolfo.

Matt picked up the phone. "It's me again. We found out some other goodies." He passed the information on to Hoyt.

"Well that does tend to put a different light on things." Matt could hear him pounding on the keyboard. "Well Mr. Adolfo has been busy, that's for sure." He whistled. "Fourteen different drug arrests but he's only been convicted twice. How in the hell…ohhhh, that's how. He's got a five star lawyer in his employ. One Frederick V. Havilland – attorney to the stars and others who can afford to pay him." The veteran detective leaned back in his chair. "This whole thing is starting to smell a little gamey."

"What in the hell do you know about gamey? You've never even been hunting." Matt winked at CJ. "You know, we're going to have to fix that one of these days. We've got quite a few deer down on the ranch in Texas. What are you doing November third through January sixth?"

"Huh? I don't know anything about hunting. Are you serious?" Hoyt was absolutely surprised. Houston had been after him for a few years now about going hunting.

"Yeah, I'm serious. You need to take off for a few days. We'll get you a deer." Matt grinned at his wife.

"Well I might just take you up on it." The detective grinned, then remembered that he was supposed to be working. "Anyway, it looks like Adolfo might be an interesting place to look."

"Yep. Wanna pick him up or just go for a visit and rattle his cage?"

"Considering who his lawyer is, we might be wise to just go for a visit. He's got a restaurant that he operates out of over on East Olympic. Feel like taking a ride?"

"Sure. Where do you want to meet?"

"I'll pick you up in about ten minutes. 'Bye."

Matt was waiting for Hoyt down in the parking garage when he showed up a few minutes later. He had his Glock with him as well as his vest – just in case. As he climbed in the car, Hoyt shot him a look. "What?" Matt looked back at him.

"Nothing. Going prepared I see."

"Just in case. I've got a couple more reasons for living in the last couple of years, ya know." He grinned.

"We probably won't be getting a warm reception at Adolfo's place."

"See – all the more reason to go prepared." He looked out the passenger window for a minute. "You know I was serious about taking you hunting. I'm sure you would have a good time."

"What did you say the dates were?" Hoyt was more interested than he ever thought he would be.

"November third through January the sixth. Maybe we could take off like the first week in December. Although if you went down with me closer to Christmas you could help me put Reaper back in with the cows."

"Reaper? Isn't that one of your bulls? NOOOOOOOO!"

"Careful now – you almost sounded like one of the cows. Better not do that if you go down there – he or Jonas might get confused." Matt started laughing.

"Not funny, PI." They rode along in silence for a minute. "Was Tony on fall break or something?"

"Yeah, he was. Vince is still working with Uncle Roy on the security systems for the jewelry stores and he uh…" Matt looked over at Hoyt. "Well, he wanted me to have a talk with Tony for him."

Hoyt stopped at a traffic light. "A talk?" He looked over at Matt. "As in THE talk?"

Matt nodded. "He didn't want to do it over the phone and there was no way he could go back to Hawaii right then so he asked me to take care of it."

"Oh my Lord, the kid's gonna be another Casanova." He laughed.

"Hey, he even got to deliver a few calves. What better way to learn, huh?" Matt laughed. "Now that's an education."

Hoyt took off from the light and they arrived at the restaurant that was owned by Lorenzo Adolfo. It was a run-down hole-in-the-wall joint that looked like it had last been cleaned in the 1950's. "Remind me not to order anything in here." Matt checked his pistol and put it in the waistband of his jeans as he got out of the car.

As they approached the door, two young men stepped out onto the sidewalk, blocking their path to the door. "Sorry, closed." One of the men smiled at the pair.

"Wow, that's too bad." Matt started forward and the man put his hand on the private eye's chest and held him back.

"I said we're closed." He gave Matt an angry look and started to shove him backwards, but Matt grabbed the last three fingers of his left hand and gave them a twist, causing him to fall to his knees.

"You know, that just isn't polite. But I guess you were just mistaken about being closed, isn't that right? 'Cause I know you don't want to be rude to us, now do ya?" His voice had taken on the low gravelly tone that Hoyt had learned to look out for over the years.

"Uh yeah, sorry." The man got back to his feet as Matt let go of his fingers and both he and his friend stepped to the side and let the two detectives pass. They shot Matt and Hoyt dirty looks as they went inside.

"Hope I still have a car when I go back out there," Hoyt muttered under his breath as Matt snickered.

"Do you happen to know what this guy looks like, by chance?" Matt was scanning the booths and tables and settled on one at the back where four men were deep in conversation. "Bet that's him."

"Yep, that's him all right. The one in the black shirt." Hoyt and Matt ambled back toward the table.

"Hi there. Would you happen to be Mr. Adolfo?" Matt grinned down at the man. He was wearing a black shirt, but it didn't make him appear any slimmer. He was almost as big around as he was tall and Matt was wondering just how he was managing to sit in the booth. Adolfo looked like he had been wedged into the seat. _Bet he can't get out of there in a hurry _Matt thought to himself.

"Yeah, what of it?" The beefy man gave the two an appraising look. "I don't talk to cops."

"Well that's okay, 'cause I'm not a cop. How about you boys take a walk?" Matt looked at the other three men at the table, two of whom slid out of the booth and stepped right up to Matt and Hoyt.

With one of the men three inches from his face, Matt grinned again. "Are those two guys out on the sidewalk friends of yours? You might want to go talk to them. You're about to make a really big mistake." There was that gravelly tone again. Hoyt was getting slightly worried.

"No, they aren't friends – they're employees." The man stepped closer to Matt and moved his hand back to the waistband of his pants – just as Matt's hand suddenly appeared in front of him with his pistol pointed at the man's belly.

"You should really treat your employees with more respect. They'll be much more loyal to you. Maybe if you did, I wouldn't be standing here right now with a Glock pointed at you." The other man was motionless. "Take a walk, pal." Matt's eyes narrowed. The man looked at Adolfo who seemed unfazed by the disturbance and jerked his head toward the door.

"Go ahead, we'll be fine." Adolfo nodded at the two men and the third man got up from the booth and walked out with the other two. There were now five angry men waiting outside on the sidewalk. "Have a seat, gentlemen." Adolfo gave the pair a greasy smile. Hoyt slid into the booth, but Matt pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat down, keeping a close eye on the front door.

"Go ahead, Hoyt." Matt kept a look out as Hoyt began talking to Adolfo.

"Mr. Adolfo, I'm afraid that I'm the bearer of bad news. Your brother-in-law Emmitt was found murdered in his office earlier today." Hoyt was watching the man's face for a reaction but there wasn't one.

"Yeah, I heard about that. There's just so much violence these days." He smiled at the two detectives and Matt smiled back.

"We were wondering if you would happen to know of anyone who might want to see him harmed in any way."

"No, Emmitt was a good guy. I have no idea who would do such a thing."

Matt spoke up. "You sure are dealing with a lot of funerals lately. Your other brother-in-law bought it last week. Now this week you've lost another one. I'm sure your wife is just all torn up. Kinda like you."

"It's a tragedy, what else can I say?" He smiled another greasy smile. "Maybe if the police were looking for their killers they wouldn't be bothering me so much. After all, I'm just a business man." He gestured at the restaurant.

"Yeah, you know, that's what Al Capone used to say, too." Matt gave the man a look.

"That's what I've been told." Adolfo wasn't flinching. "You know, I think you two might be better served by speaking with my attorney."

"Well now, why in the hell would we want to talk to him? He didn't know your wife's brothers – did he?" Matt just couldn't resist.

"I'm not really sure, but if you have any more questions you should go talk to him." Adolfo leaned back in the booth.

"Alright, we just wanted to give you a chance to clear your conscience. Guess you'll have to go talk to a priest now." Matt stood up and put the chair back where it had come from as Hoyt slid out of the booth. They both headed for the door, Matt with his pistol behind his back as he walked behind Hoyt. None of the men on the sidewalk bothered them as they got into the car, but they kept a very close eye on the pair.

Once they were a couple of blocks away, Hoyt looked over at his friend. "You kind of enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"I have no idea what you're referring to, Lt. Hoyt." Matt just grinned.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Later on that night after Matt and Catey had taken their nightly horseback ride on Cricket and she had been given her bath, Matt was giving his daughter the last bottle of the night. As she lay in his arms sleepily babbling and playing with his chin, Matt looked up to see CJ watching the two of them, smiling. "What?"

"Nothing - just thinking how comfortable you look doing that." She smiled at him. "And how much I really want another baby."

"Uh huh. Well, Carol told you that you should wait a year. Are you having second thoughts?" Matt wanted more children as well, but he wanted to be sure that CJ was ready.

"Truthfully, yes I am. I know what she said, but I also know that I'm not getting any younger." She got up and went to sit next to him.

"It would be kind of rough having one still in diapers when another one comes along." Truth be told, he had also been thinking about it quite a bit. "Still, I wouldn't mind it at all myself." He grinned over at CJ. "I kinda like having her around you know." They watched as Catey got sleepier and started to doze off. Matt set the bottle down and put her up on his shoulder. "I always thought it would be harder taking care of a baby. And I guess we've been pretty lucky. You hear horror stories of folks not hardly sleeping for months when they've got a new baby. Catey here just seemed to fit right in. It's hard for me to remember what it was like without her." He grinned as his daughter gave an almost drunken sounding hiccup and then started babbling in a sleepy voice. Reaching over for CJ's hand he gave it a squeeze. "But what I would worry about would be you. There's a reason they suggest waiting a year. If you were to get pregnant right now, Catey would be about sixteen months old when the second one is born." They both thought about it. "And you know I've been thinking about something. Even if we do wait until she's a year old, if you got pregnant right away, she would be twenty two months old. That's only six months older. Would it really make such a big difference?" Neither one spoke for a minute.

"I don't think so." CJ watched as their daughter yawned and smiled sleepily at her. She reached up to play with a curly strand of the baby's hair.

"I've also been thinking that maybe we should have a little help around here. I don't know if you want to keep working at the office or not. And really, most of what you do could be done from here on the computer. But we both have times when we need to be gone somewhere or would like to be gone and it would be nice to have a baby sitter." Although Matt was now a billionaire, their lifestyle was pretty simple. About the most outrageous things that he owned were the helicopter and the jet. "Tell you what: let's think about it some and then talk again." He leaned over and kissed her. "The only thing I'm really worried about is you getting run into the ground chasing little boogers like this one around." Catey picked that particular moment to hiccup again and then turned her head and snuggled into her daddy's neck. They both grinned again.

"Deal." CJ kissed him back and their eyes met as she pulled away.

"Guess I better get Miss Whistle Britches in the bed." Matt got up and carried Catey back to her room and put her in the crib, kissing her on the cheek. "Somehow I think you're going to have a little brother or sister pretty soon, kiddo."

The next morning as he was on his way to the office, Matt's phone rang. "What's up, Michael?"

"Would you believe that Mrs. Lorenzo Adolfo was found about forty five minutes ago – dead in her car?" Hoyt was leaning on his car.

"Where?" Matt couldn't believe his ears. Surely Lorenzo Adolfo wasn't stupid enough to kill his wife so soon after the deaths of her brothers.

"Calvary Catholic Cemetery." Hoyt was looking at the body in the car in front of him.

"The cemetery? You're kidding." He changed lanes and headed toward the scene.

"Yup. And do you know who is buried about fifty feet away from her?" Hoyt had gone looking at the grave markers not long after arriving.

"Her brother?"

"Yep. Curtis Lovelace. And I asked up at the office here – Emmitt has - or should I say had - a plot right next to it."

"No way. Surely Adolfo is not that stupid." He thought as he rode along. "Maybe he didn't do it, Hoyt. I mean really, that would make him look guilty even if he wasn't, you know? But then maybe that's what someone is trying to do – make him look guilty to get him out of the way. Who would stand to gain the most with him gone?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm thinking the same way. I believe we need to have a chat with somebody in Vice or Narcotics – see what they say about the structure of Adolfo's operation."

"Uh huh. I'm on the way. It's probably gonna take thirty minutes or so – if I'm lucky." Matt cursed under his breath as he had to stop for a traffic light.

"We'll be here waiting for you." Hoyt hung up.

When Matt arrived, the ME's assistants had just shown up as well as a van from the crime lab. Matt hadn't met the tech and neither had Hoyt as it turned out. The new technician walked over to Hoyt and held out his hand. "Bob Wisnewski. You must be Lt. Hoyt." They shook hands.

"I am. And this guy here is Matt Houston. He's a PI that consults with the department." Hoyt introduced the two.

"Oh, you're the one Cheryl was telling me about yesterday. You've got quite a fan club there." He grinned, then looked at the body in the car. "What do we know about the lady here?" Hoyt filled him in on who she was and about the other investigations. "No way. Gees, talk about overkill – sorry, didn't mean it that way." Matt couldn't help but snicker and neither could Hoyt. They watched as the tech began processing the scene by taking photographs, then measurements, and then started in on fingerprints.

When he had finished, the two detectives moved in for a closer look. Hoyt motioned for one of the ME's guys to come over. "What do you think on the time of death?"

He checked for rigor and responded: "Probably eight hours, give or take an hour."

Matt checked his watch. "So somewhere between 11:00pm and 1:00am."

"You boys can go ahead and take her." Hoyt and Matt stepped back as the body was removed from the car, placed into a body bag and hauled away on a gurney.

Matt slipped on his gloves and walked over to the back door on the driver's side, shining a flashlight around and looking at the back seat area. Maureen Adolfo had been shot behind the right ear with what appeared to be a .22 round. Matt figured from that, that the killer was sitting in the backseat. He didn't see anything at first until he looked underneath the back of the driver's seat. "Hey Michael – take a look." The PI pointed out a small piece of something that appeared to be black shoe leather. Hoyt called Wisnewski back over and showed him.

"Huh. Didn't see that before." He took a picture of it, then pulled it out with a pair of tweezers and held it up for the two detectives to get a better look.

"It looks like black leather." Hoyt was squinting at it.

Matt leaned a little closer. "That looks like alligator skin to me."

"We can sure find out." Wisnewski placed the material into a small evidence bag and labeled it.

Leaning back inside the car, Matt looked at the back of the seat and then walked around the back of the car to look on the other side. He then opened the front passenger door and looked through the glove compartment, under the visors and in the center console of the 2010 Nissan Altima. After pulling the keys out of the ignition, he looked in the trunk. Coming up empty handed, Matt stood looking at the car.

"What?" Hoyt could practically hear the gears clicking in his friend's head.

"It's too clean. I mean really, who keeps their car this clean? Other than Uncle Roy of course." He grinned at Hoyt. Matt loved to tease his uncle about the almost-showroom condition of his car – a habit that the older Houston blamed on his training as a CIA agent.

"Well not me – and certainly not you." The police lieutenant stood with his hands on his hips thinking, then noticed as Matt began walking around the car, looking underneath and then broadening the area of his search. "What are you looking for?"

"I don't know – maybe something that the killer took out of the car?" He stopped and looked at Hoyt. "There isn't even a Burger Nerd wrapper in the thing, Hoyt." He took off down the driveway behind the car and Hoyt headed in the opposite direction, going about fifty feet before he heard the PI call out "BINGO!" He turned and headed toward Matt as did Wisnewski.

"Cheryl told me this guy was good." The new tech looked at Hoyt as they headed toward Houston who was squatting down looking at something in the drive.

"Yep, sometimes he makes me feel downright stupid." Hoyt grinned. "But I must be pretty smart – I keep calling him for help." When they got to the private investigator he was pointing at a speeding ticket that was made out in the name of Maureen Adolfo. Wisnewski took a picture of it, then picked it up and slid it into an evidence bag and handed it to Hoyt. "She got it last night at 10:25 at the corner of East 5th Street and South Gage." He and Matt exchanged a look and both spoke at the same time: "When she was on her way over here." Hoyt pulled out his phone and called dispatch, asking about Officer Guillermo Pieta who had issued the ticket and received a phone number. While he made a phone call, Matt and Wisnewski headed on down the driveway looking for anything else related to Maureen Adolfo. They walked back up to the car empty-handed and then headed in the opposite direction, returning a few moments later.

"Did you talk to him?" Matt had stopped back by his truck and pulled out a mug of coffee and was drinking it as he leaned against the hood.

"I did. He remembered her – said it was the only ticket he wrote last night. He also said that she was alone in the car." Hoyt watched as the dead woman's car was loaded up on a rollback wrecker and taken to the crime lab for further processing.

"So I'm guessing our next stop will be Vice or Narcotics like you were talking about." Matt looked over at Hoyt who nodded. "Okay, I'll meet you there." He hit the speaker button on his phone as he slid behind the wheel and called CJ's cell. "Hi there. I'm not at the office."

"So I noticed. Did you get a call from Michael?" She and Catey were starting their day – CJ checking email while Catey had a conversation with one of her stuffed bears.

"Yep." Matt filled her in.

"Too crazy for sure. Okay, be careful and I'll see you later. Love you, hon."

"Love you, Babe. 'Bye." He hung up and was thinking about their conversation the night before about more babies. He had decided that she needed to talk it through with Carol, their doctor, and see what she thought. Otherwise, he thought they were ready.

Matt pulled into the parking garage and headed up the stairwell to the fourth floor. He was pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee when Hoyt stepped off of the elevator. "Bring me one, too." Hoyt snickered and walked into his office. Matt followed a minute later carrying a cup of steaming coffee and set it on the lieutenant's desk, then took a seat in the chair across from him. Hoyt, grinning, picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip, then looked down at the cup as he made a face. "What in the hell did you do to my coffee?"

"Put some of that fancy creamer in it – I figured you might like it that way." He knew very well that Hoyt hated creamer in his coffee and really hated the flavored creamer. The lieutenant shot him a dirty look and then set the coffee down on his desk and dialed the extension for Narcotics.

"Lt. Hoyt calling for Lt. Anderson." He waited on hold and put the phone on speaker so that Matt could hear the conversation. "You know that was just plain mean." Matt grinned and took a sip of his own coffee. "Anderson? Hoyt here. I need to pick your brain a little bit. What do you know about Lorenzo Adolfo?" He listened as the Narcotics cop filled him in on Adolfo's criminal enterprises. "Okay, well listen to this…" Hoyt told the man about the deaths of Adolfo's brothers-in-law and now his wife.

"No, he's not that stupid, Hoyt. There's no way." Anderson hadn't heard the news yet.

"Okay, who would stand to gain the most with the boss out of the way?" Hoyt looked over at Matt.

"The first person that comes to mind is his second in command, Luis Manzana. The next in line would be Marco Patrillo. Honestly, I don't think Patrillo is smart enough to do it. Manzana would be my bet."

"Alright, I appreciate the help. Let me know if you think of anyone else, would you?" He hung up and looked across the desk at Matt. "So what do you think?"

"I think your coffee is getting cold." He took a sip from his mug as he pondered the case. "What do we know about Manzana and Patrillo – other than what Anderson gave you?"

"Good question." Hoyt pulled his keyboard over and began looking up Manzana first and then Patrillo. He absentmindedly picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip, made another face as Matt snickered, and set it back down grumbling under his breath. "Not much evidently. All we have here is the basic information from their criminal records."

Matt stood up and stretched. "Okay, I'm going to head over to the office and see what BABY can find on 'em. I'll call you when I get something." He started out the door, then stuck his head back in. "Enjoy the coffee." Hoyt gave him a rude gesture and he took off for the elevator, still snickering.

As he walked off of the elevator, Matt looked over to see his secretary, Chris, talking on the phone and knew immediately that she was talking to her husband Murray Chase by the smile on her face. "Tell Murray howdy for me." He grinned as she passed on the message.

CJ was in her office on the phone. "Uh huh." She looked at Matt and something in her expression caused him to stop. "Hang on a minute, Matt just came in." She hit the speaker button. "Go ahead and tell him."

"Mattlock, we've run into a slight snag on these security system installations." Roy Houston, Matt's uncle along with his son Will and Matt's best friend Vince Novelli had been working to install security systems in a nationwide chain of jewelry stores.

"What's the problem, Uncle Roy?" Matt sat down on the love seat.

"Well, the circuit board that we were going to use on the job here in Boston has a flaw. Vince backtracked to the last three stores and they've got the same problem." Roy sounded pretty upset and Matt really couldn't blame him. He had spent a lot of time setting up the deal and had been away from home for weeks on the jobs.

"Okay, what exactly is it?" He looked over at CJ who didn't look happy at all.

"There's a slight imperfection in the solder that was used on them – it's tiny, but it could compromise the performance if the board gets too hot."

"Who did you get them from?"

"Circuit Works – it's their GH-127's. I can get the next step up – the GH-128's but the 127's were what we planned the system around. There's going to be a decrease in the profit on it."

"How long will it take you to get the 128's?" Matt was leaning forward listening intently.

"I've already got them – I didn't really have a choice in the matter. But it's going to throw off your profit."

"Well don't worry about that – do what you need to do to make it right. We'll deal with Circuit Works - they've been extremely reliable up until now. Don't worry about it, Uncle Roy. You do what's best for the client." Matt looked up at CJ who nodded. "We'll talk to them about it. Since it's their mistake we can probably get the 128's for the same cost as the 127's. Have you talked to them about it yet?"

"I talked to a Rich Motlow about it – he didn't seem like he wanted to play ball. That's why I wanted to let you know."

"Well Motlow may not want to play ball but when Jerry Marcuse hears about it, I guarantee you we won't be having any problems. I'll give him a call – it'll be okay. It sounds like you boys are doing pretty good otherwise – who caught the flaw?"

"Vince did. He's got a good eye for it, Matt. Been doing one hell of a job, in fact." Roy had been thoroughly impressed by the former police detective's eye for detail on the jobs that they had been doing.

"Tell him I said good catch. You boys keep up the good work. I'll call you later and let you know what Jerry said. Motlow better watch his step – he might be out of a job when the boss hears about it." After a couple more minutes of conversation, Roy hung up and went back to work.

Matt leaned back on the love seat and looked over at CJ. "Is it just me, or does Uncle Roy seem a little too worried?"

"It sure upset him. But things like that happen from time to time." She took a sip of coffee. "He's worked awfully hard on this deal, Matt."

"When they get done with these jobs he's taking a vacation. Maybe some time in Hawaii with Rosa Novelli will relax him a little, huh?" He grinned at CJ. Matt's uncle and Vince Novelli's mother had been dating off and on for almost a year. "I've got a feeling that we may be hearing some wedding bells." Matt wiggled his eyebrows at his wife. "They are sure enough crazy about each other."

"Wonder what Vince will have to say about it?" She grinned. The former cop had been a little concerned when the older couple had started dating – Roy had a reputation as somewhat of a ladies man, even though he was in his seventies.

Matt shook his head. "I don't think he'll have a problem with it, CJ. He knows how crazy they are about each other." He stood up and leaned over his wife's desk capturing her lips in a kiss. Stroking her cheek with his thumb, Matt smiled down at her. "Everybody should be so happy." He kissed her again before heading out to the couch and pulling up BABY to run checks on Manzana and Patrillo.

Luis Manzana was a second-generation hoodlum, the best Matt could tell. His dad had been hijacking truckloads of merchandise since before Luis was born: everything from TV's to furniture that was moved inland from the docks. When the younger Manzana was ten years old, his dad had been killed in a shootout with police over just such a hijacking. Manzana had joined a gang shortly thereafter. The leader of the gang was none other than Lorenzo Adolfo. The pair had been tight ever since. Manzana had done time on drug charges, receiving stolen merchandise, and manslaughter.

Matt changed gears and looked up the history of Marco Patrillo. Much like Manzana, Patrillo had joined the same gang at a young age. Apparently Patrillo's mother didn't know who his father was: none was listed on his birth certificate. He had been in and out of jail since the age of thirteen. His mother had died when he was fifteen and he had lived with a grandmother after that. He had been working with Adolfo ever since joining the gang.

Sitting back on the couch, Matt thought over the case so far. It occurred to him that he hadn't looked into Emmitt Lovelace's ex-wife, the real estate agent with a drug record. As he began to search for information about her he thought about it: you didn't hear about many real estate agents that had been pinched for possession with intent. He found the marriage record for Emmitt and Regina Lovelace. They had been married about the time that he had graduated from dental school. Regina evidently had been a handful in her teenage years: that was when the drug charges had taken place. She had seemingly straightened up as an adult. There were no other charges on her. Matt found that she was working for a property management firm in Culver City. He jotted down the address and phone number and headed back to CJ's office to let her know where he would be.

"Hey, I'm going to go try to have a chat with Emmitt Lovelace's ex. She's a real estate agent in Culver City." He gave her a kiss then leaned over and picked up his daughter from her playpen. "Can you keep Mama out of trouble for me?" Catey giggled and gave her dad a kiss on the nose. "Guess that's a yes." Matt gave her a kiss on the cheek and put her back in the playpen where she immediately stood up and began chewing on the edge. "Looks like we need to find her a rawhide bone." He grinned over at his wife.

"Well it's not a bone, but maybe this will help her out." She went out behind the bar and pulled a teething ring out of the refrigerator and gave it to Catey who sat down suddenly, looking at the new toy and then immediately put it in her mouth. The squeal of delight that followed left Matt and CJ in stitches.

"Be back as soon as I can. Love you." He took off for the elevator once again and headed down to the parking garage to collect his truck. The ride to Culver City took almost thirty minutes and as Matt pulled into the parking lot of Coastal Properties he breathed a sigh of relief. He walked inside and was greeted by a receptionist. "Good morning. I need to speak with Regina Lovelace, please."

"I believe she's in right now." She pointed Matt in the direction of the agent's office and he rode up in the glassed in elevator. When he stepped off, Regina Lovelace met him. Matt introduced himself and told her that he was helping the police to investigate the murders of her ex-husband and his brother as well as their sister. Evidently she hadn't heard about Maureen yet and the look of shock on her face convinced Matt that she didn't have anything to do with the woman's murder. They sat down on a sofa as Matt explained what had happened to her former sister-in-law.

"Oh my goodness. I can't believe…" She shook her head. "But it probably had something to do with Lorenzo. I never understood what she saw in him. I guess the same thing that I did as a young woman."

"I'm sorry – you knew Lorenzo before she married him?" Matt was surprised.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I dated him before she did. That's how she met him." She looked around to make sure no one heard what she had to say next. "I got into some trouble because of him. Drug troubles – he convinced me to take the heat for him on some drugs that were shipped to my house - said that I wouldn't get in hardly any trouble because of my background." She rolled her eyes. "Why I fell for it, I don't know. But I did. My parents were ready to disown me. But that was the wakeup call that I needed. I got away from him after that and never looked back. Maureen introduced me to Emmitt right after that and she became interested in Lorenzo. I tried to talk to her, but she insisted that she was in love." She gave Matt a sad smile. "And I guess she really did love him. They were still married."

"Do you have any idea who would kill the three of them?" Matt propped his ankle on his knee and leaned back.

"No…but more than likely it has something to do with Lorenzo and his business dealings."

"That's what the police are thinking. Do you know anything about Marco Patrillo or Luis Manzana?"

"Luis is a snake. Marco is just kind of…slow. He does what he's told and that's about it. If you think that one of them is responsible for the murders, then it would probably be Luis. He's got a mean streak in him."

Matt thanked her for her time and headed back towards his office, still mulling over the case. Manzana seemed to be the most likely suspect. Maybe he was tired of being the second banana to Adolfo. It wouldn't be the first time in history where a second-in-command had tried to take over control from his boss. But how to prove it?


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

While he was stopped at a traffic light, Matt pulled out his notebook and looked at the home address that he had for Manzana: 601 South Record Avenue. The location was fairly close to Adolfo's house. As he looked up the light turned green and he headed on back to the office. Stepping off of the elevator, Matt looked at his watch: it was 11:00am. He walked on into CJ's office and sat down on the love seat to think.

"So how did it go?" She looked up from the papers that she was going over.

"She's not what I expected." Matt explained what he had learned about the real estate agent. "I think I'm going to be late tonight, Babe. I'm going to put out a couple of critters." He was referring to the surveillance system that he had helped computer mogul Derwin Dunlap create and test.

"Funny you should mention that. I was just going over your profit statement from Derwin on the critters." She smiled. "You two have really been mopping up." CJ handed the statement over to Matt.

"Wow." He knew that the critters would be a fairly big hit, but the sales had sky-rocketed in the last couple of months. Orders for police departments, other private investigators, as well as several government agencies were astounding. He smiled over at CJ. "Who knew?" Matt shook his head and laughed. "Guess I'm not the only one who thinks that they're handy, huh?"

"Evidently not - guess who one of the most recent customers was?"

"Who?" Matt could think of several individuals and agencies that might have ordered.

"Your friend and mine – Steve McGarrett and the Five-0 Task Force." They had met Steve when they had gone to Hawaii to announce their engagement to the Novelli family. After butting heads that first time, Matt had become good friends with McGarrett as well as Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, and Kono Kalakaua.

"Did Derwin give them the discount like I asked him?" Matt knew that the Five-0 squad had been battling with the governor's office over their budget in recent months.

"Yep, he did." CJ thought a lot of Derwin. He, like Matt, tried to help out the good guys as much as possible.

"Good. Well, I'm going to plant a couple of critters on Manzana and Patrillo." He leaned back with his arm across the back of the love seat and was deep in thought about how and when he would get the bugs planted. Obviously, he would want to put one on each man's car, but he also wanted to put a camera or two in their homes. Manzana lived in a second story apartment and Patrillo still lived with his grandmother. He realized that CJ had said something to him. "Huh?"

"I asked what your plans were for the critters." CJ got up and came around the desk to sit down next to her husband.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." He explained Manzana and Patrillo's living arrangements. "I really don't think I'll be able to get one in Patrillo's place – from what I understand his grandmother is really in bad shape and has a caregiver there all the time. And as far as Manzana's place, other members of the gang live in the downstairs apartment. It's going to be tough to get in there." Matt's hand strayed down to his wife's shoulder and he pulled her closer, kissing her. "Have you set up an appointment with Carol?"

She smiled. "No, but I did talk to her this morning. She agreed with me – surprisingly. But she thought we might want to think about it a little more." Laying her head over on his chest, she looked down at Catey Rose who was playing with one of her stuffed bears and cooing. "I'm sure some folks would think that we're rushing things a bit, but…" She shrugged. "We've got a lot of time to make up for in my opinion." Although she had always dreamed of having children, CJ was surprised herself at how much she really wanted another baby so soon.

Matt turned her face to his. "I just want to be sure that you're going to be okay, CJ. I don't want you to put yourself at risk." He kissed her again and stroked her cheek with his thumb, a habit that he had that CJ absolutely loved, not that he knew it. Catey picked that moment to blow a raspberry and both of her parents cracked up. "The kid has great timing." They smiled at each other and then looked at their daughter who had pulled herself up on the side of the playpen and was watching them.

He got up, walked over to the playpen and picked his daughter up and brought her back over to the loveseat. "So what do you think, Miss Catey Rose? Would you prefer a brother or a sister?" She just squealed at him and leaned forward to give him a slobbery kiss on the nose. "Either one is fine, huh?"

Matt sat the baby on his lap and kept thinking about how he could best plant the critters. "I think I better just stick with bugging the cars – trying to get their homes covered is just going to be too dangerous." CJ breathed a sigh of relief. Matt was very good at his job, but sometimes took too many risks. He noticed how she had relaxed after he said that and grinned. "They probably aren't home that much anyway."

She nodded. "So how are you going to get the cars?"

"Well, that's a good question. I guess they have to sleep sometime. I'll just have to get the cars then. Maybe about 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning would work." He picked up Catey and held her in the air over his head causing her to squeal. "So Daddy won't be working late tonight – he'll be up extra early in the morning." The baby blew another raspberry. "Yep, that's probably what I'll say when the clock goes off." He and CJ both laughed. "How about I take the two most beautiful girls in the world out to lunch at Ricardo's?"

"Works for me." CJ got up and picked up Catey's diaper bag and her purse and the family headed out to the elevator, meeting Murray Chase as the doors opened.

"Hey bud, how's it going?" Matt hadn't seen much of the CEO of Houston Industries lately.

"Good. Are you three headed out to lunch?" Murray was shaking Catey's hand.

"Yep. You two want to come along? We're headed to Ricardo's."

Murray looked at Chris who nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. So do I get to carry Miss Catey Rose?" He reached for the baby who squealed again.

"Since she seems to approve of the idea I guess so." CJ grinned as her daughter patted the balding CEO on top of his head.

After lunch, CJ decided to head on home with Catey who had become fussy while they were at lunch. She suspected that it was the teething that was causing the problem so she gave the baby some acetaminophen drops. By the time they reached the house, Catey was fast asleep. CJ spent the afternoon getting caught up on laundry and other housework.

Matt made it home a little after 4:00 and they had dinner, along with a fussing Catey. Matt took her down to see Cricket but even their nightly ride didn't take her mind off of her aching gums. He brought her back to the house and gave her a bath, then CJ gave her some more drops and her dad rocked her to sleep. After he put her in her crib, the couple stood watching her for a while before heading back into the den to watch movies.

With the alarm set for 3:00am, Matt got up and dressed quietly before going to check on Catey as he headed out of the house. He got to Manzana's apartment shortly before 4:00am and was relieved to see all of the lights off. Parking the truck down the street a couple of blocks, Matt walked back to the apartment and attached one of his tracking devices to the backside of the license plate on the gang member's car and quickly got back in his truck and headed to Patrillo's house and repeated the operation on his car. By the time he was finished it was 4:15. He headed on to the office and activated the critters before making a pot of coffee and stretching out on the couch for a nap. He awoke to his cell phone ringing about 7:00. "Hi Babe, how's it going?" He could hear Catey fussing in the background.

"I think we'll be staying home today, hon, she is really hurting." CJ had been up with her daughter since 5:00 am.

"Well give her a kiss for me and you two try to take it easy today." He hung up a couple of minutes later and decided to go grab some breakfast from one of the fast food restaurants after he checked on the two tracking devices. Neither man's car had moved at all.

Just as he pulled out onto the street from picking up a sausage biscuit from the Burger Nerd near the office, Matt's cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Luis Sanchez, Hoyt's assistant. "Hey Sanchez, how's it going?"

"Houston, somebody just shot the lieutenant."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"What?! Is he okay?" Matt couldn't believe it.

"He's at the ER at Memorial." Sanchez was obviously upset. His first day on the job at the department had been the awful day that Hoyt's predecessor and Matt's other best friend, Vince Novelli had been shot.

"Okay, I'm on my way." He tore down the street and headed for the hospital. As he drove, cursing at other drivers and the traffic signals, it occurred to him that he had spent way too much time at Memorial – both as a patient and as a concerned friend and son. Matt's dad had died there and he had come close on more than one occasion himself.

As he entered the ER he saw Dr. Metcalfe coming out of a treatment room. When he looked up and saw Matt he flagged the private investigator over. "I guess you're here about Hoyt."

Matt nodded. "How bad is it?"

"It could be a lot worse but he's going to be out of commission for about a month. He took a round in the right shoulder and one in the right thigh. There's been a lot of blood loss, but he should be okay. We're getting him ready for surgery." The doctor, who had treated Matt for more reasons than either one cared to remember, saw the relief on the man's face. "Come on in. His wife is supposed to be on the way." Metcalfe showed Matt into the treatment room. Hoyt was conscious but not by much.

Matt stood next to the gurney that his friend was lying on. "Hey Bud, what's the big idea?" He took the man's hand.

"Houston, what are you doing here?" Hoyt's eyes were slightly unfocused.

"Sanchez called me. Did you see who did it?"

The sixteen year police veteran nodded. "It was a car full of gang bangers. I'm just glad that their aim sucks." He grinned at Matt who gave a smile of relief.

"Okay, I'll get 'em for you, bud. You just take it easy, okay?" Matt felt better now that he had been able to talk to his friend. At this point the anger was starting to kick in.

"Be careful, I don't want anything happening to you." Hoyt squeezed his friend's hand.

"Who me? I'm always careful, you know that." He smiled down at Michael.

"I'm sorry Houston - we've got to take him to surgery now." Metcalfe ushered the private eye out of the exam room and they rolled the cop down the hall to surgery.

Matt felt the anger pulse through his veins. He had come close to losing Vince a few years back and the fear of possibly losing another friend was never far from his mind. He pulled out his phone and called CJ. "Hey Babe – Hoyt's been shot."

"Oh my God, how bad is it?" She had finally gotten Catey to sleep thirty minutes before and had been going through some of the clothes in her and Matt's closet.

"He's going to be okay – but Doc Metcalfe says he'll be out of commission for about a month. One in the shoulder and one in the thigh. Could you call Uncle Roy and let him and Vince know what's going on?"

"Sure. Do you need me to come down there?"

"No. Just hang tight. How's Catey doing?" He hadn't heard her crying in the background.

"She's asleep. Let me know if you need me, okay?"

"Alright. Anne just walked in. I'll call you later. Love you, Babe."

"Love you too, hon, be careful."

"I will. 'Bye." Matt hung up as Anne walked up to him. "He's in surgery now – it's going to be okay." He gave her a big hug and she started crying. "Hey now, he's going to be okay. I talked to Michael for a minute before they took him down. He was making wise cracks about how bad the guy's aim was." He smiled down at Anne who gave a quavering laugh.

"I'm so glad you're here, Houston. Were you with him when it happened?" She drew in a shaky breath.

"No, Sanchez called me. I was at the office early – had to plant some critters on a couple of cars." He led her over to a bench. "Want some of that notoriously bad hospital coffee?" She shook her head no.

"I need to go get Kathy." The pair exchanged a look. When Kathy had been kidnapped a few years back, the pedophile who grabbed her had impersonated a police officer and told the girl that her dad had been shot.

"How about I go get her?" Matt and Kathy were good friends since the kidnapping. "You stay here and wait on him to get out."

"Okay. I'll call the school and let them know that you're coming." She pulled out her cell phone and made the call, then hung up. "Alright, they're expecting you." Matt was kneeling in front of her and she gave him a big hug. "Thanks, Houston."

"I haven't done anything, Anne." He patted her hand.

"Yes you have – you're here. And I really appreciate you going to get Kathy. I can only imagine what will be going through her mind." She started to tear up.

"Hey now, don't do that. He's going to be fine. Besides…" The private investigator stood up. "I've been trying to talk him into taking some time off to go hunting with me in Texas." That got a smile out of her.

"Well that's one way for it to happen." She gave him another smile.

"Just give him one of those pretty smiles when he wakes up – that'll make him feel better." He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back with Kathy ASAP." On his way to the parking lot he thought back to the day that Kathy had been kidnapped. He and Hoyt were already friends by then, but that experience had cemented their friendship. Matt had tracked down the pedophile but took a knife to the chest and nearly died before he could find out where Kathy was. Roy had helped to find her and they had a happy ending, but the families of the other girls that the maniac had kidnapped, raped, and murdered had not been as lucky.

Matt pulled up in front of the school and went to the office where Kathy was waiting for him with tears in her eyes. The minute she saw him, she ran into his arms and burst into tears. Matt sat her down in a nearby chair and calmed her down. "He's gonna be okay. It's gonna be just fine." He gave her a smile. "Your dad was making wise cracks about how bad their aim was." Kathy smiled then. "Come on, your mom's waiting." He put an arm around her and led her out to his truck and opened the door for her.

As he slid in behind the wheel, Kathy looked around the truck. "So this is the truck he was talking about, huh?" She grinned. "I never thought I would hear dad talk about wanting a truck until he drove this one."

"He wants one, huh?" Matt thought about that. Vince had also fallen in love with the truck and Matt had seriously been considering getting both of them one. He made up his mind to talk to CJ about it. When they got to the hospital, one of the nurses let Matt know that Anne had moved up to the surgical waiting room. As they rode up in the elevator, he looked over at Kathy. She was doing her best to pull herself together. He wrapped an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. When they stepped off of the elevator, Anne was just walking out of the waiting room. Kathy ran to give her mom a hug.

"They just gave me an update. The doctor is about halfway done. So in about another hour or so he should be going to the recovery room." Anne was all smiles.

"See, I told you he was going to be okay." Matt gave both of Hoyt's ladies a smile. "Do you think you two will be okay here? I want to go find the jerks who did this." Anne noticed the deeper tone of his voice.

"Don't you get hurt, too. Be careful, okay?" She and Kathy both gave him a hug.

"I will. Call me if you need anything, okay?" He turned back to the elevator and pulled out his phone, calling CJ to give her an update on Michael, then calling Sanchez to see what the police had so far.

"Houston, we had one witness. The lieutenant had just walked out of the coffee shop over on La Brea when they hit. The guy said that it was an older model Buick, navy blue, but he didn't get the tag. He said there were four men in the car, all appeared to be Hispanic, and all were wearing brown."

"Brown? Which gang wears brown?" Matt racked his brain. He couldn't think of any gang that wore brown.

"I have no idea. Hiller and I were just talking about that."

"Okay, who's working the case?" Matt was hoping that it wasn't Oxford - they didn't get along at all.

"Uh….Oxford." Sanchez knew how bad the detective hated Houston.

"Damn." Matt was pretty sure he wouldn't be getting anywhere with the man. "Okay, I'm going to need your help. Oxford won't give me the time of day and wouldn't piss on my head if it was on fire." He heard the young cop snicker.

"Okay, I'll do whatever I can – it's for the lieutenant after all. What do you need?"

"Keep an eye and ear on what Oxford's doing and let me know. Looks like I'm pretty well going to be on my own otherwise." He was wishing that Uncle Roy wasn't out of town right now – he could use some help.

"I'll do it. Keep me posted on what you get." Sanchez hung up.

Matt went back to the office and told Chris what had happened before he pulled up the surveillance information on Manzana and Patrillo. Neither man's car had moved. "I need to put a critter on Adolfo's car…but he probably wouldn't have done the dirty work himself." He leaned back on the couch as Chris walked in.

"Are you talking to yourself now?" She stepped over the back of the couch and sat down next to her boss.

"Yeah, I guess so. CJ and Catey are at home." He told Chris about his daughter's teething.

"What can I do to help? I'm completely free right now – it's been absolutely dead around here this morning."

"Well for starters we're not taking any cases. Right now Michael is our sole concern." He thought for a minute. "Do you know of any gang in town that wears brown?"

"Brown? No – is that what the guys that shot Michael were wearing?"

"Uh huh." Matt nodded. "I think they did that to throw us off. And so far it's working." He got up and headed over to the bar for a cup of coffee. Just then his phone buzzed and he pulled it out. There was a text message for him from the college. He read the message and Chris saw the look on his face.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, just the opposite. I thought it went good – and I guess I was right." Matt grinned. "I aced my exam."

"Way to go!" Chris smiled. She had a feeling that Houston would do well. It was really no surprise: the man always gave one hundred percent to whatever he was doing – and it usually paid off.

"Okay, now I've gotta figure out who to look for on the shooting." He walked back over, stepped over the back of the couch and plopped down. "It's bound to have something to do with the Lovelace case. He's rattled somebody's cage. The question is: is it Adolfo or someone else?" Heaving a big sigh he pulled out his phone and called Cheryl Crawford. "Hey, it's Houston."

"I heard about Hoyt. How's he doing?" Cheryl had been extremely upset when she heard the news that morning. Michael Hoyt had been a pain in the butt when he transferred in, but like Houston, she had made friends with him.

"He's going to be okay. The doc said he'll be out for about a month. Look, it seems to me that he's rattled somebody enough for them to come after him. Have you gotten anything else out of the Lovelace investigation?"

"Not really. The prints on the keys came back to the dentist, and the only suspicious thing that I've found is a phone call from Adolfo's restaurant to Lovelace's cell phone that I found on the counter. It came in about half an hour before the shooting started."

"What about Wisnewski? Do you know if he got anything off of Maureen Adolfo's car?"

"Hang on a minute, I'll get him." There was a pause as she went across the hall where the new tech was working.

"Hey Houston, I was about to call Hoyt and let him know what I found. You were right about the black material under the seat – it was alligator skin, most likely from a shoe that the killer was wearing. There were no finger prints other than the victim's and her husband's in or on the car, so whoever did it was wearing gloves. And I also had an idea after I got back here yesterday, so I went and checked the garbage cans at the cemetery. It's amazing how many flower arrangements get thrown away. But I did find something good: a .22 pistol that had recently been fired. And it matches up with the bullet that was recovered from the victim's skull. Amazingly enough it didn't get torn up like most of them do inside a skull. It went straight through her medulla oblongata; you know the part of the brain that controls breathing? Killed her almost instantly. So we have the murder weapon, but unfortunately no prints."

"That's great, Bob. Were there any other bullets in the magazine?" Matt had an idea if there were.

"Uh, yeah there were."

"Did you print them?" Matt knew that there was a possibility that whoever had loaded the gun had also pulled the trigger.

"No, but I will right now. What's your number?" Matt gave the new tech his cell number as well as the office number. "Okay, I'll call you as soon as I get something. That's a great idea."

"Hey, do you know who's processing Hoyt's scene?"

"Yeah, Mark Putnam. I'll tell him to give you a call when he's got something."

"Alright, thanks Bob. Detective Oxford is handling it and he and I don't exactly get along." Matt was hoping he wouldn't have to speak to the man at all – he flat out didn't trust the man and neither did Hoyt. He hung up the phone.

The office phone rang just then and Chris got up to answer it. "Houston, the Chief is on line one."

"Houston." Matt had dealt with the new chief on a couple of occasions. After a rough start, they had agreed to disagree on how things should be done. He didn't seem like a bad guy, but definitely was into the politics of his office.

"Houston, Chief Whittaker. I'm sure you've heard about what happened with Lt. Hoyt this morning."

"Yes sir, I spoke with him before they took him to surgery. I'm working now trying to find out who did it."

"Good, that's what I was hoping for. Det. Oxford is handling the case and I've instructed him to pass along anything that he comes up with to you and I expect you to do the same."

"Yes sir, I will." Matt knew full well that Oxford would do everything in his power not to share – no matter what the chief told him.

"Good. Thanks for your help." He hung up and was gone, leaving Matt to stare at the phone.

"Well that was a complete waste of time." The private investigator put the phone back on the hook. Chris giggled as she sat back down on the couch. "Oxford won't give me diddly and I plan to give him even less." Houston stood up and walked over to the window. "I believe I'm going to pay another visit to Adolfo's restaurant and leave a critter under that table that he seems to like so much. Maybe something interesting will be said." He went downstairs to the closet and pulled out another one of his surveillance bugs. When he came back up he looked at Chris. "Do you know how to activate these?"

"No, but I'm a quick study." She sat forward as he sat back down in front of BABY and showed her how it was done.

"I'm going to let you keep an eye on the critters that we have out there right now. As soon as I plant this one and leave I'll call and let you know. This will make number three. Call me if you get anything."

"I'll do it." She watched as he stepped over the back of the couch headed for the elevator. "Boss – be careful."

"Always am." He grinned as he walked down the steps and hit the button for the elevator.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

As Matt pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant on East Olympic, he noticed that the goons that he had confronted the last time that he had been there were standing just outside the door once again. "Same song, second verse," Matt muttered to himself. He had put on a denim jacket when he got into the truck in the parking garage and had the bugging device in the pocket. He slipped his pistol into the waistband of his jeans as he got out of the truck.

"How are you boys doin' this morning?" Matt grinned at the pair.

"Better than you're going to be doing if you don't turn around and leave right now." The same idiot that had gotten his fingers twisted on Matt's last visit didn't seem to have learned his lesson.

"You're kind of slow on the uptake, aren't you?" Matt walked right up to the door. The goon stepped in his path. Matt lowered his voice. "I'm not in the best of moods right now, dirt bag: get out of my way – or do I need to embarrass you again?" The gravelly quality was back in Matt's voice again. With a look of uncertainty, the man moved out of his way and the private investigator walked into the restaurant. Lorenzo Adolfo was sitting in the booth once again and had two others with him. When he saw Matt, he said something to his companions and they got up and left, both giving Matt a look of distrust. "My condolences, Mr. Adolfo." Matt pulled out the same chair that he had sat in the last time he was there and sat down at the end of the booth that the portly drug dealer was occupying.

"Thanks." He looked at Matt. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, first off I'd like to tell you something. I don't believe that you had anything to do with the deaths of Emmitt or Curtis – or your wife for that matter. Neither does Lt. Hoyt." He watched the man's reaction. There wasn't much of one, but Matt detected a glimmer of surprise.

"Thank you." Adolfo actually sounded sincere.

"But I also need your help." Matt leaned back and looked outside at the four men on the sidewalk. They didn't appear to be watching him and he moved into the booth across from Adolfo. "I'm sure you heard about Lt. Hoyt getting shot this morning."

"I did. But I didn't have anything to do with that either." He looked Matt straight in the eye. "I'm going to be totally honest with you Mr. Houston. I've done some checking on you. You're quite an interesting person. You seem to be a straight shooter, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm sure you've done your homework on me. I'm not a saint. Never claimed to be one. But I haven't had anything to do with any of the murders. I'm trying to find out who did – and I'm also trying to find out who hit the lieutenant. It wouldn't be in my best interest for anything to happen to him."

Matt had been sitting with his hands in his jacket pockets and now pulled them out and leaned back in the booth as he cautiously stuck the critter to the underside of the table. "Good. That's what I was going to ask you." An older lady came over and brought a pot of coffee and two cups and left them on the table in front of the men. Adolfo poured coffee for Houston and himself. "I don't know of any gang who wears brown, and I'm willing to bet you don't either." Matt took a sip of the coffee.

"No one does. I've got people out working on it right now. It's in my best interest to find out who did it. How is he doing?" Adolfo drank some of the coffee.

"He's going to be okay. Took one in the shoulder and one in the thigh."

"I'm glad they didn't kill him." The drug dealer looked around to make sure no one was listening. "I've got some information on the way to your office through the mail. As much as it pains me to admit it, I believe that someone on my payroll is to blame for all of these problems. Just in case something should happen to me, I've sent the information to you. I think you'll know what to do if something happens."

Matt nodded. Adolfo really didn't seem like such a bad guy, but Houston couldn't afford to let his guard down for even a minute. "I'll be sure to look through it. Is there a number I can call if I find something?"

Lorenzo wrote a number on a napkin and slid it across the table. Matt looked at it and put it in his pocket. "If I hear anything Mr. Houston, I'll be sure to call your office."

"Thanks. I'll do the same." Matt slid out of the booth, put the chair back and walked on out the door without so much as a word or a glance from the men on the sidewalk. He got in his truck and drove down the street a couple of blocks before calling Chris. "Go ahead and activate it."

"You got it." She clicked a few keys on the computer. "It's done."

"Thanks, Chris. I'm going to run by the hospital and check on Hoyt and then probably come back there. Oh, and keep your eyes open – I'm expecting a letter from Adolfo in the mail."

"Okay, I'll see you when you get here. Give Michael my best." She hung up the phone.

Matt rode up to the third floor of Memorial Hospital and walked up to the nurses' station where he saw a familiar face. "How are you doing, Sheila?" He gave the nurse a smile as she looked up.

"I wondered how long it would be before you showed up." She came around the counter and gave Matt a big hug. Sheila had been Houston's nurse on several occasions when he was in the hospital and had even been his private nurse at the ranch after he was injured in an explosion caused by a former fiancée. "He's in your old room." She grinned at him and led him down the hall to room 310, the same room that he had been in the last time he had been hospitalized. She eased the door open and Matt walked in to find Anne and Kathy sitting at Michael's bedside. Anne waved him in.

"How's he doing?" Matt stood next to the man's bed.

"He's been out since they brought him up here. Dr. Metcalfe said he would more than likely wake up later on this evening." Matt could hear the relief in her voice. "Have you found out anything?"

"Not exactly, but I'm getting some help from a very unexpected source." He grinned and then explained what he meant.

"No way." Anne was completely surprised.

"Yep, and he's worried that someone has him next on the list – and he also thinks it's one of his own people." Matt walked over and leaned against the window sill. "You know this room looks a lot better when I'm not laying in that bed." Kathy laughed then looked over to make sure that she hadn't bothered her dad. "CJ wanted me to tell you that if you need anything just call her. Catey's having some teething problems right now and they're at home, but if you need her, all you have to do is call. And Chris sends her best."

"Well, actually I do need something. I'm going to stay here with Michael tonight and I don't want Kathy to be at home by herself."

"Then she can just come stay at the ranch. We're always happy to have her." He put a hand on the teen's shoulder.

"I appreciate that, Houston." Anne looked at her daughter who looked disappointed. "You don't need to be there by yourself. Besides, maybe you can help CJ with Catey."

Kathy brightened up. "I would love to take care of her."

"You know, I've been meaning to ask if you would like to babysit sometime. It would be nice to take CJ out on a date." He laughed. "We hardly ever go out anymore."

"I'd love to." Kathy was beaming.

Matt looked at his watch. "How about I take you ladies out for some lunch?"

Anne immediately shook her head no. "I want to be here in case he wakes up."

"What about you? Want to go out to lunch with an old man?" Matt's eyes twinkled as he looked over at Kathy.

"Sure – but you're not old." She stood up.

"I'll be happy to bring you something – what would you like?" Matt looked over at Anne.

"Oh I don't know – surprise me." She reached over and patted on Michael's hand.

"We can sure do it. I'll have her back in a little bit." He and Kathy headed on out of the room, stopping just long enough to talk to Sheila for a minute and show her the latest pictures of Catey Rose riding Cricket with her daddy.

"That child will probably know how to ride before she can walk." Sheila had gotten a big kick out of Cricket's tricks when she had been taking care of Matt.

"I don't know, Sheila. She's already pulling herself up and standing." Matt was grinning like the proud dad that he was.

"No way. She's only six months old!"

"Tell her that." He laughed as he and Kathy started down the hallway.

"Of course she's probably as stubborn as her daddy, too." Sheila just had to get in a parting shot at Matt.

Matt and Kathy hit the Burger Nerd for some hamburgers, fries, and shakes and ordered a salad for Anne, then made their way back up to the hospital. After walking Hoyt's daughter back up to his room, Matt promised Anne that he would swing by and pick their daughter up before heading to the ranch that evening. He drove back to the office and walked in to sit down next to Chris and Murray on the couch.

"How's it going, Murray?"

"Pretty good. How's the lieutenant doing?" Murray and Chris had been married about three months before at Matt's ranch in Texas.

Matt brought them up to date on Hoyt's condition. "Chris, what have you found out from the critters?"

"Well, not much. Manzana went to a house on Hubbard Street and then to Adolfo's restaurant on Olympic. His car is still there. Patrillo went to the restaurant, then to a place on McBride Avenue – it's an apartment, and then to a sporting goods store on Whittier. His car is still there." She showed the map to her boss.

"Ooookay. Wonder what kind of sport he's going to be playing?" He leaned back and absently scratched his moustache with his thumb. "Did the mail come yet?"

"No, but it should be here anytime." Chris and the two men both turned to look when the elevator chimed. Matt got up and went to see who it was.

"Thanks." Matt walked back in with a stack of envelopes, one of which was a rather large manila envelope that had the restaurant for a return address. "Bingo." He opened it up and started looking through the information that Adolfo had sent to him. After reading through each page he laid it on the table in front of him.

Murray looked at his watch and stood up. "Big Guy, let me know if Hoyt needs anything, okay? Pumpkin, I've got to get back downstairs." He gave Chris a kiss. "I'll see you later."

"Thanks, Murray." Matt continued reading through the papers.

"Hey boss, Patrillo's on the move again." Chris pointed to the screen.

Matt watched as the flashing red dot started moving on the screen and an idea came to him. "Chris, I'm going to be in my office. When he stops somewhere, buzz me on the phone and let me know where, would you?" He stacked the papers and hit the bar for a cup of coffee and then headed into his little-used office and locked the door behind him. Walking over to the desk, he flipped on the desktop computer that he had in there and sat down, continuing to look through the papers. Matt had bought a used Russian satellite the previous year in order to track down a Middle-Eastern terrorist. He had also used it to locate a cult leader who was planning on blowing up an aviation fuel truck at the Twenty Nine Palms Marine Base. Only four people knew about the satellite: Matt, Roy, Vince, and Michael. He had kept the device a secret from everyone else in order to protect them. It occurred to him that he might learn a little more about what the gang members were doing if he could actually keep an eye on them. A few minutes later Chris buzzed him with an address and Matt moved the satellite to cover that area of Los Angeles. He zoomed in and could see several men standing around a car talking. After a little more maneuvering and zooming in, Matt could make out Patrillo's face. "Ugh – hope he doesn't crack the lens. That is one ugly dude." He snickered as he watched the animated conversation that the gang member was having. "Wait a minute…" He moved the angle of the camera and looked again. The car that the men were gathered around was a navy blue Buick. "Son of a …" He changed the angle again and took a snap shot of the license plate, then opened up a photo program on the computer and worked to blow it up. "5BMB292." He wrote down the number and called Sanchez. "Hey, I need you to run a plate for me….5BMB292. Yeah." He waited.

"It comes back registered to a navy blue Buick owned by Hector Salsedo, 19587 McBride Avenue. Is this the one that was used in the drive by?" Sanchez wondered how in the world Houston could have possibly found it.

"I don't know for sure. I've got to do some more checking. Can you look this guy up – see if he has a record?" Matt had jotted down the information on Salsedo.

"Sure – want me to email it to you?" Sanchez was starting to feel hopeful that they would catch the guys that had shot his boss.

"Yeah, if you don't mind. And Sanchez – keep this under your hat, okay? Don't tell Oxford." Matt couldn't explain why, but Oxford just didn't seem like he could be trusted.

"Sure thing, Houston. I'll send it just as quick as I can." He hung up and began the search on Salsedo. It didn't take him long to find the gang member's record: possession, possession with intent, possession of a firearm, drunk and disorderly, and a few other charges. The young officer emailed every bit of it to Houston.

While Matt was waiting he picked up the phone to call and check on Catey Rose and to let CJ know that Kathy was going to be staying with them. "Hi there, how are my ladies doing?"

"Pretty good. As it turns out there wasn't just one tooth coming through – she had three of them." CJ sounded relieved and Catey sounded much happier – Matt could hear her cooing in the background.

"Well good. I was kinda worried about the little booger. Look, Kathy is going to be staying with us – I guess until Michael gets released." He filled his wife in.

"Okay, we'll be ready when she gets here. How's it going trying to find who shot him?" She leaned over and picked up Catey from the playpen and sat down on the couch with her for a bottle. Matt filled her in on what he had just gotten – but without mentioning the satellite. "Matt, you do know I figured it out, don't you?" She was smiling.

"What?" Matt was trying to sound innocent.

"The $5,000,000 investment? I figured it out when you were helping Homeland Security before Catey was born." She couldn't help but giggle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Babe. Gotta go. Love you."

"Love you, too. 'Bye." She hung up the phone still laughing and spoke to her daughter. "He's gotta get up pretty early to sneak a satellite past Mama."

When Matt got off of the phone with CJ he checked his email and there was the information from Sanchez. He hit the print button and then collected the somewhat lengthy file from the printer and sat down to look through it. Salsedo sounded like the typical gang banger – he had joined up at the age of eleven, been in trouble with the cops by the time he was thirteen and had done a couple of short stretches at juvenile and adult prisons. He was now twenty one and appeared to be particularly close to Patrillo. Matt leaned back and propped his feet up on the desk. Patrillo was supposed to be the slow one, but from what Matt had seen on the satellite feed, he had eight other gang members listening intently to what he said. That didn't sound like someone who was slow. He turned back to the computer monitor. It looked like Patrillo was giving orders: the members began dividing into teams of two and taking off in their cars and Patrillo got back in his own car and left.

Chris buzzed him again. "Houston, he's on the move again. I'll let you know where he stops."

Not wanting to give away the satellite, Matt thanked her and continued to watch the gang member on the satellite. It occurred to him that Salsedo might well be Patrillo's right hand man – it appeared that it was his car that had been used in the drive-by. A well-placed critter on Salsedo's car might be a wise move, he thought. He checked his watch and yawned. It was almost 3:00pm and 3:00am had come early and it looked like he was going to be doing the same thing in the morning. After considering his options, Matt decided to make an early day of it. He could keep track of the critters and the satellite from home, since the software for both was installed on the laptop that he kept there.

Stretching as he stood up, Matt closed the satellite program and turned off the computer before collecting the file on Salsedo and his coffee cup. He locked the office door as he left it, and washed out the cup in the sink behind the bar. "Chris, I'm calling it a day. I've got to pick up Kathy at the hospital before I go home. Don't worry about watching the critters anymore today – I'll catch up with 'em when I get home. And thanks for doing such a good job." He gave his secretary a smile.

"I kind of enjoyed it – I don't get to play Sam Spade very often." She grinned as she turned off BABY and closed up the computer.

"See ya tomorrow." Matt hit the button for the elevator and started on down to the parking garage.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Matt stopped by the hospital once again to pick up Kathy and Michael was awake when he got there. "Hey bud, how do you like having my old room?" He gave his friend a big smile.

"I hate it. Do you know who my nurse is?" Hoyt grinned.

"Yup. I already told her to give you a rough time." Matt shook hands with the lieutenant. "So Kathy, are you all set?"

"Is she all set for what?" Hoyt looked between the two who were both smiling.

"She's going to be staying at the ranch until you're back at home – or at least until Anne decides she's tired of you snoring in here." Matt put his arm around the teen.

"Don't you spoil her, Houston. I know how you operate." Hoyt was doing his best to look annoyed with the private eye.

"Nah, you don't really believe what Vince told you, do you?" Houston laughed. "Besides, she's offered to help us with Catey – who by the way is the proud new owner of three teeth. Got kinda loud while she was trying to find them." He rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Ha!" Hoyt winced. "Not the best idea I've ever had. But I'm glad you got a dose of what it's REALLY like to have a baby. Now when she starts dating you'll have other things to worry about."

"Well, we've got a while before that happens – thank goodness." He walked over and squeezed his friend's hand. "You let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"I will. Thanks for taking care of my baby for me." Hoyt grinned at Kathy.

"DAD!" She rolled her eyes and gave him a kiss. "You better behave."

"That's what I was about to tell you." He patted Kathy's hand.

"Hey, before we take off, I need to talk to you for a minute – in private if you don't mind." Matt was looking at Anne who seemed somewhat surprised.

"Okay, I'll be right back." She followed Matt outside the room. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all. I've got a question for you. I've been thinking about it for a little while now. What do you think Michael would say if a truck just happened to show up in his driveway at Christmas?"

"A truck? What are you talking about?"

"Well, I've been thinking about it. Both Michael and Vince like my truck and I thought about getting them one for Christmas." Matt looked at the shock on Anne's face.

"No, Houston, that's too much. I mean he would love it, but really…it's too much. You've already set up the trust fund for Kathy."

Matt sighed. "Yeah, and I'd like to do something for him. He's…well hell, he's like a brother to me, you know that. Him and Vince both. I'd like to treat 'em like my brothers – if it's okay with you – and you don't think he'll have a heart attack." He grinned.

"I don't know, Houston…he really does like it, but…" She started to tell him no, but saw the pleading look in his eyes. "What about Isabella? What did she say?"

"I haven't talked to her yet." He was holding his breath. "C'mon, can't you just see the look on his face?" He grinned at her.

"Oh, all right, but the final decision will have to be up to him. He may hit the roof, you know." She couldn't help but smile at the look on Matt's face.

"Nah, I'll talk him down off of it." He gave her a hug. "Thanks."

"You're thanking me?" She shook her head. "I should be thanking you."

"Nah." He opened the door. "C'mon kid, time to hit the road. Tell the old man goodbye."

"I'll show you old…" Hoyt wagged a finger at the private eye.

"Yeah, yeah Gramps - calm down. See ya!" He took off out the door with a laughing Kathy.

After they got to the ranch, Matt cooked up some steaks on the grill as Kathy got to feed Catey. They were both giggling and laughing so much it was hard to tell who was having more fun. Matt hugged CJ close as they watched the pair. "Maybe before too much longer we'll have another one for Kathy to babysit, huh?" He winked at his wife.

"I hope so, Matt." She smiled up at him. He really was a great dad and she was hoping that the next baby would be a boy.

The next morning, Matt got up early again and popped a critter on Salsedo's car. He had checked the feed from the critters and the satellite several times during the night but didn't see anything suspicious. When he got to the office, he made a pot of coffee and headed into his office to keep an eye on the gang members while finishing the letter that Adolfo had sent him. It looked like the gang leader had good cause for concern. There had been three attempts on his life in the last two months – none of which had been reported to the police. He leaned back in the chair and took a long sip of coffee, then turned toward the computer monitor. Patrillo was on the move again. He then checked on Manzana who appeared to be headed to the restaurant as did Salsedo. Matt switched to the satellite and picked up the Buick. It was about four blocks away.

As he looked back through the information from Adolfo there was a knock at the door. Turning off the computer monitor, he got up to see who it was and found CJ standing there holding Catey. "What are you ladies up to this morning?" Matt chucked Catey on the chin.

"Matt, I know what it is now. Don't you think you should show me how to use it?" CJ was giving him the look: the "I-already-know-what-you're-up-to" look.

He dropped his head, then looked up at her. There was no point arguing with her, he knew that. "Look, I'd rather you didn't…if anybody…if the wrong people found out…"

"If anybody finds out what you did I would be a target anyway, Matt." Looking her husband directly in the eye, she smiled at him. "I'm not stupid you know. I heard on the news what happened the night you showed up in Hawaii with a nice big bullet hole in that shoulder – you don't remember because you were crashed on Vince's couch at the time. Not to mention the fact that you don't normally run around with a team of Navy SEAL's."

Matt heaved a big sigh then turned toward the door. "Look, at least let Chris keep Catey. I don't want her to get used to going in there."

CJ took off for the secretary's desk and was back in under a minute. She followed Matt into the office and sat down next to him as he turned the monitor back on. "This is from the satellite?" The amazement showed in her voice. Matt nodded. "That's a terrific picture, hon. I'd say it was worth the $5,000,000."

"I'm so glad you approve." He said it as sarcastically as possible and she swatted him on the back of the head. "Do you want to continue to assault me or do you want to learn how to use it?"

The Harvard-trained lawyer looked at him and grinned. "Can I do both?"

"Nope – one or the other, lady." He gave her a raised eyebrow look but couldn't help smiling.

Leaning over to kiss him, she rested her chin on his shoulder. "I'm proud of what you did, by the way."

"Good. I was afraid you would be upset with me." He put his arm around her. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to leave you here." Matt pulled her to him and gave her a steamy kiss. "Of course I didn't completely leave you." He grinned and pulled out the St. Christopher medal that never left his neck, turning it over to show her the picture of her that he had taped there the night before the raid on the terrorist's compound. "Not to mention the little package that you were carrying around." Matt was referring to their daughter. It had been while he was gone on the raid that CJ had found out that she was pregnant. The pair kissed again. "Okay, is this going to be a make-out session, or do you want to learn how to run this thing?" Matt was more than a little breathless, as was CJ.

"Can I do both?" She gave him one of those dazzling smiles that always made his heart beat a little faster – not that she knew that of course.

"Unfortunately no." He looked back at the screen. "Helllllloooooo, what are we doing Mr. Salsedo?" Matt maneuvered the satellite a little so that he could get a better look at what the man was doing. He was at the back of the restaurant where Adolfo's Navigator was parked. After looking around carefully, Salsedo slid under the car and popped back out a few seconds later. He then went to the driver's door and used an air-inflated tool to wedge the door open enough to insert a coat hanger- like unlocking tool to pop the door open, then released the hood. Matt saw him remove what appeared to be an electrical cord from his jacket pocket and do something under the hood. He then crawled back under and slid mid-way down the SUV. "I'll be damned." Matt switched to the critter feed. Patrillo and Manzana were both at the restaurant. "They're keeping him busy while Salsedo rigs his SUV." Matt pulled out his cell phone and called the number for Lorenzo Adolfo. As soon as the man answered, Matt said, "Don't say my name. They're setting you up. Salsedo is in the parking lot rigging your Navigator to blow up. Whatever you do, DO NOT turn the engine over. Call me back when you get clear of them." He hung up.

CJ was sitting there astonished. "What did that guy just do?"

"He rigged an electrical cord from the starter to the gas tank. If the key is turned, an electrical charge goes straight to the gas tank - BOOM." He looked at CJ. "We may be about to witness a murder here, just so you know. I have no idea what Adolfo will do."

They watched as Salsedo finished his handiwork and slid out from under the car, then moved his car to the other side of the building. As he stepped out of the vehicle he answered his cell phone, then entered the restaurant. Matt turned up the volume on the bugging device that was under Adolfo's table.

"Hey, Salsaman, how you doin' today?" Adolfo sounded as cool as a cucumber. "I got a little job for you, man." The sound of jingling keys could be heard. "Take my 'Gator to the carwash for me. Get the deluxe wash. Here's a hundred – you keep the change, man."

Matt and CJ exchanged a look and he cracked up. "That's one way of handling it."

"Uh, Lorenzo, I can't man. My girl just called. The baby is sick and I got to take him to the doctor."

"Well take him in my 'Gator and then go wash it. No problem, man. Hope little dude is feeling better soon." Adolfo sounded like a really nice guy – if only he hadn't known that the SUV was rigged to blow up.

"No, I couldn't man." Salsedo's nervousness was starting to come through in his voice.

"Hey, you're dissing me, Salsaman. Take the 'Gator." The pair of detectives then heard a distinctive CLICK as a pistol was cocked.

"I'm just afraid I'd mess it up, Jefe." Salsedo sounded like he was ready to either pee his pants or make a run for it – or both.

"Is that all? Or are you worried about something else?" They could hear as Adolfo moved out of the booth.

"No, Jefe. That's not it at all." There was a loud crash, then three gunshots were fired. Matt and CJ looked at each other.

"Go get him. Bring him back in here – ALIVE! Or you won't be!" Adolfo sat back down at the table. Matt's phone rang and he turned down the feed from the critter.

"Hello?"

"I owe you one, Mr. Houston. Are you in the parking lot?" Adolfo sounded slightly short of breath.

"Uh no, I was driving by and saw what he was doing while I was at the light." Matt made a face at CJ and then shrugged.

"Thanks, man. I've been working on your problem – gotta go. They're back." The drug dealer disconnected the call and as Matt hung up his phone he turned up the feed from the critter again. "What the hell is wrong with you, man?" Adolfo was moving again. "Take him out to the 'Gator." They went outside and Matt switched back to the satellite view. They could see the four men headed out toward the SUV. With his gun drawn, the gang leader threw his keys to Salsedo and ordered him to get in. He reluctantly did so, then began violently shaking his head.

"Guess El Jefe told him to start it up." Matt shook his head. "Unless he wants to get hurt, he better back up. That thing could take out the wall of the restaurant if it's got enough fuel in it. Call Sanchez and tell him to get a car out there."

CJ picked up the phone on the desk and told Hoyt's assistant what was going on and Matt could hear him yelp as the information sank in. He couldn't help but snicker. When she hung up, they continued to watch as Salsedo shook his head. All three of the other men were pointing pistols at him but he still refused to start the SUV. Matt and CJ could see Adolfo say something to the other two men standing with him. They walked over and pulled Salsedo out of the car and then took him to Patrillo's car and left. Adolfo went back into the building just seconds before the patrol car showed up.

The two private investigators looked at each other and Matt burst into laughter, then CJ. "Those cops are gonna think it was a crank call, Matt." CJ was near tears from laughing so hard and Matt was already wiping them away from his eyes.

"I tell you Babe, this thing can be a lot of fun." He finally started to calm down a little bit. "Guess I made a believer out of Adolfo." Just then his phone rang. "Speak of the devil. Hello?"

"Mr. Houston, I'm in your debt. Is there someplace we can meet?" Adolfo was watching as the two cops cruised the peaceful looking parking lot.

"Tell you what: I'll come pick you up. But while you're waiting, you might want to go out and disconnect the wires from the starter." Matt was still swiping at tears and CJ was having a hard time keeping quiet.

"Okay, I'll wait for you outside." Adolfo hung up.

"Keep an eye on Patrillo's car. If it looks like they're gonna kill him, call Sanchez. Of course after what already happened, he may or may not believe you." Matt started chuckling again as he kissed CJ on the cheek and started out of the office. "And don't let Chris in here, okay?"

"Alright." She burst into laughter again and could hear him laughing on his way to the elevator.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

Matt pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant a short time later and Adolfo managed to get his wide load into the truck. He looked around as Matt took off. "Nice ride, Mr. Houston."

"Thanks." Neither man said anything for a minute.

"I appreciate your help earlier. That makes four times someone has tried to kill me. So Salsedo is the one who wired my 'Gator?" Adolfo was looking at Matt.

"Yep, saw him with my own two eyes." _And a $5,000,000 satellite _he thought to himself_._ Matt stopped at a traffic light. "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think he might be working for Patrillo." He looked over to see a shocked look on Adolfo's face.

"Uh huh. Well, he wouldn't have been my first choice, I gotta say." Adolfo looked disappointed. "To tell you the truth, I really thought it was Manzana. He's been getting kinda _sospechoso_ the last couple of years. I mean…"

"Shifty, I got ya." Matt took off from the light.

"Ah ha! So you know the language, huh? You're from Texas, right?" Adolfo was smiling at the private investigator.

"Yep, lived there until just a few years ago when I moved here." Matt had no idea where he was driving or where the conversation was going. He finally decided to lay his cards on the table. "Look, I think it was Salsedo who shot Lt. Hoyt – or let me put it this way – someone in his car did. It matches the description of the vehicle that the witness saw. I wonder if there's some way we could help each other out here." He pulled into the parking lot of the nearby WaldoMart and cut off the engine. "I saw him this morning talking to about eight other guys who appeared to be in the gang – and they were sure listening to what he was saying. It looked an awful lot like he sent them out in pairs to do a job or something."

Adolfo nodded. "I see. Well, Patrillo isn't really in charge of anything – at least not from where I sit. It does sound like he's up to something."

"Now there is the possibility that they're all in on it – Patrillo, Manzana, and Salsedo." Matt didn't say anything for a minute. "Let me ask you something – do you know if any of the three of them have a pair of alligator shoes?"

"Alligator shoes?" Lorenzo looked at Houston like he was crazy. "Yeah, Patrillo does. A pair of alligator boots. Why?"

"Are they black?" Matt thought he had just found out who murdered Maureen Adolfo.

"Yeah."

"I want you to promise me something right now: if I tell you why, you won't move on it. You'll let me handle it. Promise?" Matt turned in the seat to face the man.

"Yeah, I guess so. Why?"

"No, not "I guess so." It's gotta be a yes."

"Okay, I trust you. So why?"

"Because I think he killed your wife." Matt told Lorenzo about the piece of alligator skin that had been found under his wife's seat. It got a definite reaction from the super-sized drug dealer – but not the one that Matt had been expecting. He started to tear up.

"I can't believe he could do that to her – or to me! I took him under my wing – protected him!" He was so mad he was shaking.

"Okay, I've got to do some talking to the cops and get a search warrant served to get the boots. Do you know if he owns a .22?"

"Yeah, he's got one. And a lot of other guns, too. But most of us do, you know?" Adolfo was still shaking. "I could kill myself right now, you know that?" He was now fully crying. "Maureen and I had plans – we were gonna go legit with the restaurant. She wanted us to clean it up, turn it into one of those 50's diners." He got quiet for a moment. "That's it. That's what set them off. I told Manzana and Patrillo what I had planned. But if they wanted to run the show so bad, wouldn't they be happy if I quit?" The gang leader looked at Matt and shook his head. "She was pregnant. Did you know that? Only about a month. But we were gonna start a family, go legit…." He broke down right there in Matt's truck and the private investigator had no idea what to do.

"Look, I know you're hurting, man, I get it. I really do. I've got a wife and kid, so I know where you're coming from." He patted the man on the shoulder. Lorenzo really wasn't that bad of a guy. "Look, let me help you out here, okay? If I can get the search warrant served, get the evidence, I can take down Patrillo. He might give up the others if he thinks a deal is in the works." Matt's biggest fear at that point was that Lorenzo Adolfo would try to take matters into his own hands. "And I'll tell you something else: if you're being honest with me about trying to go legit – I'll do everything I can to help you."

Adolfo looked up at the private investigator. "You will?" He was incredulous.

"I will. I promise. But you've gotta work with me, okay? Let's do this the right way – the legit way. If you can get through all this legit – then you can get through anything, can't you?"

Lorenzo nodded. "I see you're point. Okay. What do you need me to do?"

"Well for starters, I hope you didn't tell them to kill Salsedo – that could kinda go against you." He didn't really mean it like it sounded, but Lorenzo actually laughed.

"No, I didn't. I told 'em to take him for a ride – see if he would talk. Just scare him a little."

"Okay, good. Call and check up on them. We need to keep Patrillo busy, but not with anything that can make you look bad. Have you got something legit that he can do?"

"I could have him do something at the restaurant – how long do I need to keep him busy?"

"Maybe twenty four hours if that. I need time to talk to the cops and get the warrant done."

"Inventory?"

"That's legit. Now you're thinking." Matt grinned at him. "You'll be getting some work out of him while you're setting him up – it don't get much better than that."

"You're right there,_ vato_. Uh sorry, I kinda forgot…" He gave Matt a sheepish grin.

"_No hay problema, mi amigo_."

Lorenzo laughed. "You're alright."

"Okay, go ahead and check up on them while we head back to the restaurant." Matt started the truck and put it in gear and headed back.

"Hey, he come across with anything?" Lorenzo had Patrillo on the line. "Okay, drop him off at home. Tell him I said he better stay there – or else, _comprende_?" He looked at Matt who nodded. The gang leader ended the call. Matt dropped him off at the restaurant and headed toward the police station – then changed his mind and headed to the hospital. Hoyt could get more done on that front – if he was awake. If not, Matt didn't think he would mind waking up for the news.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

"Hey bud, do you feel like doing some work?" Matt had stuck his head in the door of Hoyt's room and was relieved to find him awake and alert.

"Yeah I do. What's going on?" Hoyt tried to scoot up in the bed but Matt stopped him. "NO! Don't try that – trust me, you'll regret it." Matt had tried the same maneuver when his right arm and leg had been broken in the truck bomb incident and had nearly passed out from the pain – but of course the cracked ribs and bruising hadn't helped him either. "You let us do that." He helped Anne move his buddy up on the chuck that was under him. "Comfy?"

"Well, I GUESS so, but now that you mention it, my pillows are kinda…MMMPH!" Hoyt couldn't finish his complaint when Matt put a hand over his mouth.

"Do you want the guys that put you here?" He grinned at his friend.

"Hell yeah!" Hoyt couldn't believe his ears. "Don't tell me you found them already?"

Matt nodded and smiled. "And I found out who killed Maureen Adolfo." He sat down on the foot of Hoyt's bed and ran through the whole thing – minus mention of the satellite. It was called "The Project" instead because he didn't want Anne to know.

"No way. How in the hell…? Never mind, I don't care. So you need a search warrant for Patrillo's boots, and you need him picked up for questioning. Who's working the case?" Hoyt looked at the PI. "Who's working the case?" Matt's grin disappeared. "Oh crap, not Oxford?" The private eye nodded. "Damn."

"But I've got an idea." The devilish smile that accompanied Houston's statement sent Anne Hoyt into a fit of giggles. Both men looked at her, rolled their eyes, and went back to their conversation. "Okay, we find some kind of uh…. "JOB"", Matt used air quotation marks "…for Oxford to get called away on so somebody else who is there lands the search warrant."

"And what kind of job do you propose, oh Devious One?" Hoyt was grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you two always like this when you're working?" Anne was looking back and forth between the two of them. "Because I've gotta tell you, it's kinda spooky."

"Only when he's on pain meds." Matt rolled out the answer so quickly and effortlessly that it left Hoyt stuttering and Anne fighting another fit of giggles.

"The job, PI, the job – what's it going to be?" He was giving Matt the old "Hoyt" look.

"Good to see you're feeling more like your OLD self there, bud. I don't know: something that he would think would make him look good to the chief…" Matt sat there and pondered. "But that would actually make him look really stupid before it's over with. Too bad Al Capone's vault was already done." The serious look on his face was just too much for Anne who dissolved into another fit of giggles. "Control yourself, woman!" Matt cracked himself up with that one. Then the inspiration hit. "Does the chief have a dog?"

"What do you mean…ohhhh, I don't know." Hoyt thought he could see Matt's reasoning.

"Dog, cat, rat, ferret…" Matt stopped and the devilish look was back. "Iguana." He snickered.

"Oh, God…no…no…a dog somebody might actually fall for but an iguana?" Hoyt thought about it. "But that would kind of lend urgency to it." He looked at Houston. "I'm so glad our relationship never reached such a low point that you had me looking for an iguana." Anne lost it again.

Matt grinned. "Okay…how good of an actor is Sanchez?"

"Yes Detective, that's what he said. The chief's iguana is missing. He's been hearing good things about you and specifically requested you. They sent over a picture of it – here." He handed the picture (that he had printed off of the InternetCyclopedia) to the detective. "And here's the description." He handed over another page.

"Well now, I guess it's a good thing Lt. Hoyt isn't here or this job would probably get farmed out to his favorite pet private investigator." Det. John Oxford straightened his tie. "Alright, I'll need an APB put out on this iguana, Sanchez. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Oh yes sir, just tell me how you want it to read." Oxford followed Sanchez back over to his desk.

The rest of the detectives in the squad room looked at each other. Lee Jenkins and Carl Trenton exchanged a grin. "This has got Houston written all over it." Jenkins answered his phone. "Yes sir? How…okay. Uh huh…uh huh…heh heh! Yes sir, I would be more than happy to meet him. When and where? Yes sir, I'll be right there." He hung up. "Come on, Trenton we've got the real deal." They boarded the elevator and managed to keep a straight face – at least until the doors closed - as they overheard Oxford correcting Sanchez's spelling of "iguana".

After picking up the search warrant, Jenkins and Trenton met Matt at the corner of Hubbard and Herbert then followed him down the street to the house that Patrillo shared with his grandmother. As they headed up the sidewalk and the front steps, Jenkins shot Houston a look. "Iguana, huh? That was pretty good. The minute I heard it I knew it had something to do with you."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Matt grinned at the two cops as he donned a pair of black gloves.

The door was answered by one of Inez Patrillo's caretakers. "May I help you?" She looked a little frightened when the two officers handed her the search warrant and headed into the house. Matt followed along behind them and when they reached Marco Patrillo's room, he was the first to spy the boots – half-hidden under the edge of the bed. He squatted down next to them. "Here we go fellas." Jenkins produced a large brown bag and carefully put the boots inside, then labeled it. Matt stood back up and looked around the room.

Trenton was looking for the gang member's gun collection and wasn't having much luck. As he searched through the chest of drawers, Matt headed toward the closet. He carefully opened the door and began pushing clothes to the side, then searched through the mess in the floor. Shoes, belts, and clothes that had either fallen off of hangars or had simply been thrown down were littering the floor. After spending several minutes sorting through the debris, Matt stood back up and looked around the room again, then looked up. The ceiling seemed lower in the room than in the rest of the house. The private eye stepped to the doorway of the room and looked up at the ceiling of the hallway. It was a good eighteen inches higher than the one in the bedroom. He walked back in and looked at the tiles. One in particular seemed more worn than the others. Matt reached over and pulled a chair under the tile and stood up on it, getting the attention of Jenkins, who walked over to watch.

"And here we go." Matt had removed the tile and sure enough, there were five guns fastened to the true ceiling of the room, one of which was a sawed-off shotgun and another that was a .45 – the same caliber that both of the Lovelace brothers had been killed with. He stepped back down off of the chair as Jenkins told Trenton to get five gun evidence boxes out of their car.

Looking down at Matt, Jenkins smiled and shook his head. "You know, I got promoted to detective right before Novelli got shot. I thought he was nuts for letting you in on so many investigations. But when Hoyt started trusting you, I paid closer attention. You are some kinda good, Houston."

"So you don't think Novelli is crazy?" Matt was grinning.

"Nope, I know he isn't." Jenkins pulled down a nine millimeter pistol and put it into the box that Trenton handed him.

"Just shows what you know." The private eye started laughing. He and the two police detectives went over the house with a fine tooth comb, but nothing else incriminating was found. Matt headed straight to the forensics lab when he got to the station and was relieved to see both Cheryl Crawford and Bob Wisnewski there.

"Looks like you've been a busy guy today." Cheryl gave him a hug.

"What's that for?" Matt looked rather surprised.

"It's got something to do with a missing iguana." She burst into laughter as she pulled out the .45 that had been found at Patrillo's house.

"I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what you're talking about." Matt was trying for an innocent look as Wisnewski looked at him with new-found respect.

"Ahhh, so you're the one…" He burst into laughter. "Just so you know Oxford is still on the lookout for it. And your buddy Larry Carlisle is helping you, too – he called Oxford about thirty minutes ago telling him that it was supposedly seen at a park near the chief's house."

"Larry's a great cop." That's all Matt would say. He watched as Cheryl first printed the .45 Colt M1991A1 along with the magazine and accompanying bullets, then prepared it for a test fire.

"Want to do the honors?" She looked at Matt.

"Nope. I want this to be an airtight case. I'm not a forensics tech." He stood nearby while Cheryl test fired two bullets from the gun.

As she retrieved them from the test chamber she snuck a look at Matt. "Hoyt would be impressed by your self-control here."

"Well since he isn't here to remind me I guess I have to remind myself." Matt gave her a grim smile. Although he knew his friend was going to be okay, the shooting had hit too close to home for him and took him back to the terrible day that Vince Novelli had been shot in the line of duty.

Cheryl seemed to realize what he was thinking. "He's going to be okay, Houston. And Vince is, too – remember?" Matt nodded and followed her back to her work area where she mounted one of the slugs on a magnet under a microscope alongside one that had been collected from Curtis Lovelace's body. "And we have a match to Curtis Lovelace." She then removed the murder slug and replaced it with one recovered from Emmitt Lovelace's murder. "Once again we have a match." She tested the slugs removed from the receptionist and the Coffees. "They all match up." She replaced the slugs in their respective bags and turned to Matt. "That makes five murders that you cleared up right there – plus his prints are all over the gun."

Matt nodded and couldn't help but smile. "Hey Wisnewski – did you ever get any prints off of the .22 bullets from the cemetery?" He stepped over to the new tech's work area.

Bob gave him a nod. "Sure did. Looks like Patrillo's going to need a good lawyer. Unfortunately, his prints weren't actually on the gun."

"No, but I'll be you a million bucks that the alligator skin that we found under the seat came off of that pair of boots right there – there's a scuffed up spot on the left toe." Matt motioned toward the brown bag that contained the boots from Patrillo's house.

"Don't think I can ante up on that bet, Houston." He walked over and removed the boots from the bag and retrieved the piece of alligator hide that Matt had spotted in the Nissan. With a pair of tweezers he held the shred over the toe of the boot and lined up a video camera over it to project it onto the computer monitor where they could blow up the image to see it better. "You got it. It's a match." He put the piece back in the evidence bag and resealed it. "I'm going to do a DNA swab on the boots – feet do tend to sweat and we want to make sure he was the only one to wear them."

"Yep, looks like Patrillo's life just got a lot more complicated." Matt breathed a sigh of relief. "Now if I can just get Hoyt's shooter. I know whose car he was in, but I don't know who pulled the trigger. Guess that's next on my list. Thanks a lot." He headed back to the elevator and went down to the parking garage to retrieve his truck. After pulling out onto the street he looked at his watch. "No wonder I'm hungry." It was almost 2:00. He dialed the number for the office. "Hey Chris, is CJ still there?"

"Yep, she sure is. Hang on." She put him on hold.

"Hi there, Cowboy. How's it going?" CJ sounded like she was in a good mood and that got even better when he brought her up to date on what had happened – including the iguana. "Oh my God – he actually fell for it? What an idiot!" She began to laugh. "You did really well, Matt. So what's your plan now?"

"Have you had lunch?" His stomach was rumbling.

"Yeah, Chris and I decided to have some delivered earlier. I didn't want to call and interrupt whatever you were doing – like sending Oxford on a wild iguana chase." She broke down into a fit of giggles again.

"Alright then I'm going to grab a bite of something somewhere and figure out where to go from here. Can you pick up Kathy at 3:00?"

"Sure. Do you need us to stay here or head on to the house?" CJ was picking Catey up for a diaper change at that very moment.

"Nah, just head on home. I'll be there as soon as I can. Love you, Babe."

"Love you, too Matt. Be careful." She hung up the phone and took her daughter down to the nursery for a fresh diaper.

Matt stopped by the Taco Shack and gulped down a couple of tacos in the truck while he decided what to do next. Hoyt had been shot by a nine millimeter MAC10, which he had managed to identify before the bullets started flying. While there had been four men in the car, only one had fired at the lieutenant. Matt pulled out his phone and called Lorenzo Adolfo. "Hey, is it a bad time for you to talk?"

"No, I just got done talking to the funeral director. Maureen's service will be Saturday." Adolfo was standing just inside the funeral home and looked to make sure no one else was around to hear the conversation. "Have you found out anything else?"

"Yep. I would guess that by now…" Matt looked at his watch, "…your buddy Patrillo is in custody. You might need somebody else to take care of that inventory job for you."

"I appreciate that, Mr. Houston." The emotion in the man's voice made Matt grateful for what he had.

"Hey, drop the mister – I'm not THAT old, you know." He knew that would get a chuckle out of Lorenzo – and it did. "Anyway, the piece of alligator hide that was found in your wife's car matched his boot. They're running DNA tests on the inside of the boots – from the sweat. The .45 we found in his room also matched up to the murders of the Lovelace brothers, the receptionist, and the older couple that were killed in the waiting room." There was silence on the other end of the line. "You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out why in the hell he went after those people – we didn't have any business dealings. Curtis and Emmitt were like my brothers." He got quiet again.

"I've got a feeling that the drugs and money were planted there to make it look like it had something to do with you – make you look guilty." Matt just had another thought. "I was going to ask you – do you know anybody that has a MAC 10?"

"A couple of folks – including Salsedo and Manzana." Adolfo was watching a car that had just turned into the parking lot. "Oh no…" He didn't say anything else.

"What?" Matt could tell he was scared.

"There are four guys here from the 18th Street Angels." He was talking in a whisper. "I've got to disappear – and fast. We don't get along."

"Okay, which funeral home are you at?" Matt started the truck.

"Guzman Brothers on Olympic. I'm going to go out the back. I'll call you when I can." The call ended and Matt called Sanchez to send a car to the funeral home, explaining what was going on and then dropped the truck into gear and took off that way as fast as he could. By the time he got there, there were three patrol cars in the parking lot, as well as an ambulance. Four men who appeared to be gang members were in custody. Matt rolled out of the truck to find two patrolmen that he knew.

"Hector, is Lorenzo Adolfo here?" Matt was afraid he might be dead.

"Yeah, they're loading him up right now." The young patrolman pointed to the ambulance and Matt headed that way.

"Hey Houston, nice to see you made it – even if you are a little late." Adolfo, although he had been hit, seemed to be in good spirits.

Matt was looking for a bullet wound. "Where did they get you?" He was slightly puzzled.

"In the _culo_." Adolfo was grinning. "I didn't even feel it. Guess it's a good thing I'm so fat."

As hard as he tried, Matt couldn't help but laugh. "Guess you got it in the end, huh?" He was relieved. "Where are you taking him?"

"East LA Doctors' Hospital." The attendant was on the verge of laughter as well.

"Okay, I'll check on you later. I want to see if these guys have a MAC 10 by chance. Be good." Matt shook hands with the gang leader.

"I will." Adolfo was still smiling as they closed the door and headed for the hospital.

Matt walked back over to where the officers were going through the car. "Y'all didn't happen to find a MAC 10 in there by chance, did you?"

"How did you know?" The patrolman, Chris England looked at Matt quizzically.

"Just a hunch." He grinned as he walked back to his truck and called Cheryl Crawford. "Hey, you're going to be getting a MAC 10 brought in there – check it against the slugs they pulled out of Hoyt, would you please ma'am?"

"Seriously? How in the hell did you find it?" Cheryl couldn't believe her ears.

"Well surprisingly enough it wasn't a pain in the ass – for me, anyway." Matt cracked up and ended the call, leaving a very confused forensics tech on the other end.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

Matt headed back down to the forensics lab and as he stepped off of the elevator, he ran into none other than Det. John Oxford who was looking less than happy. The detective shot Houston a disgusted look and got on the elevator. As he walked into the lab, he could hear the sound of several people laughing. "What's so funny?" He stopped to look at Cheryl who appeared ready to pass out.

"Well, the wild iguana hunt is history. Oxford brought in the owner of a pet shop for questioning. He thought that he had kidnapped the chief's iguana and was trying to sell it." Everyone in the lab was rolling once again. "Turns out that the store owner happens to be a friend of the chief – and he filed a complaint on Oxford. When the chief found out what was going on he called him in for a little, uh…chat. I'd say his butt is still bright red from the chewing he got."

"Ya know it could be carpet burn." Matt slipped that last remark in there smoothly and set the techs off again. "Have you gotten anything else?"

"No, the MAC 10 just got here. I'm about to process it." She wiped her eyes and blew her nose before donning a pair of gloves and starting to work on the weapon. As she started to print it, she looked up at Matt. "How in the world does CJ do it?"

"Do what?" Matt took a seat on a stool that was at one of the counters in the lab.

"Deal with you on a twenty-four-hour-a-day basis?" She shook her head.

"I don't know – but she doesn't seem to mind. Especially the night time hours." He wiggled his eyebrows at Cheryl and grinned.

"You are just bad, Houston, bad." She went back to work and began running the prints that came off of the weapon. "Hmm…looks like this gun has been around. We've got Patrillo's prints on the barrel and Angel Ramirez's on the trigger."

"Is he with the 18th Street Angels by chance?" Matt thought he had figured out the whole thing now.

"Let's see." Cheryl tapped a few more keys on the computer and motioned Matt over to take a look.

"Hmm, seems like someone has been a bad boy for quite some time. He's one of the ones they picked up while ago." Matt read the record of the gang member. He had joined the Angels at the age of ten and been in trouble off and on ever since, doing three stretches behind bars: the first two as a juvenile and the last as an adult. He jotted down a couple of pieces of information on the man and thanked the tech before heading upstairs. Jenkins and Trenton had Ramirez in one interrogation room and Patrillo was in another being guarded by an officer. When Matt approached the room that Ramirez was in, Trenton opened the door and invited him inside. He sat down in a chair and propped his feet up on the table as the gang member shot him a curious look.

Jenkins spoke up. "Mr. Ramirez here doesn't seem to want to talk – except for in Spanish. We've sent for a translator."

"No need." Matt looked over at the suspect. "_¿Por qué disparaste Adolfo_?" Although he looked somewhat surprised, Ramirez didn't answer. "He just doesn't want to talk, boys. But that's okay: Patrillo is talking enough for everybody. You don't have to say a word, punk." He grinned and started to get up.

"_Si él te dice algo él es un hombre muerto_." Ramírez sneered at Houston.

"_No es de buena educación hacer amenazas que conoces_." Matt returned the look. "Has he got a lawyer yet?"

"No, for some reason his usual lawyer doesn't want to work for him anymore. Said his retainer has expired." Jenkins was standing with his arms crossed behind the suspect.

"Let me guess: Havilland?" Matt turned to look at Jenkins.

"Yup."

The private eye grinned at Jenkins. "Guess that's what happens when one of his clients tries to kill another."

"So what did you two talk about in there?" Jenkins followed him out into the hall.

"Well, let's see…I asked why he shot Adolfo and he didn't answer. Then he said if Patrillo says anything he's a dead man. Then I told him that it wasn't polite to make threats. That's pretty much it." Matt grinned and stepped into the room where Patrillo was being held. Without saying a word, he sat down in a chair and once again propped his feet up on the table.

Patrillo looked at him. "Thought you weren't a cop."

"I'm not – I'm a consultant to the department. You know, the cop you shot is my best friend." Matt glared at him.

"I didn't shoot a cop – Ramirez did." He leaned back in the chair.

"Yeah, but it was your gun wasn't it? Your prints are on it." The gang member just glared at Matt, who shrugged his shoulders. "Either way, you're going to get pinched for it – if you didn't pull the trigger you supplied the weapon. Guilty either way. Oh, and just so you know: the hit on Adolfo didn't work. Well not exactly. He got shot alright – just in the butt. That's a lot of territory there – it didn't hit anything important." He grinned at Patrillo. "Speaking of Adolfo – he's pretty steamed at you. Actually that's putting it mildly." Matt put his feet on the floor and stood up, leaning over on the table. "Did you know Maureen was pregnant?" The shocked look on Patrillo's face spoke volumes. "So you can understand why Adolfo is so mad – you not only killed his wife, you also killed his child."

"I didn't know, man. Look, I didn't want to do it. The Angels, they made me do it to prove myself to them. Killing Maureen's brothers wasn't enough. I had to prove that I was serious about doing business with them." He looked scared at that point.

"So tell me: what kind of business deal were you guys working on? Drugs? Didn't think you and Manzana could handle the business without Adolfo? He wanted to go straight and quit the gang and the drug business. You two knew that the Angels would move in and take over – and take you and the rest of the gang out. So y'all talked to some of the other members. After you tried to frame him for the Lovelace murders and it didn't work, you tried to kill him again by blowing up his SUV. And thanks to me that didn't work out either." He saw the surprised look on Patrillo's face. "Yep, that was me that called him and let him know what was going on."

"How did you know?" Patrillo sat up straight in the chair.

"Oh, I've been around a while. Not the first time I've seen the extension cord trick." He leaned forward. "Even used it one time in Afghanistan." The last was barely audible, but it had the desired effect: Patrillo was obviously scared.

"You did?"

Matt nodded. "Uh huh – good ole Army Special Forces. That wasn't too long before I got transferred to Intelligence." He gave the gang member another cold look and then looked at his watch. "I'm going to guess that your public defender will be here in about an hour. That gives you plenty of time to think about what you're going to say. And it better help us convict Ramirez. You know, with stalling on the death penalty deal, you could wind up spending no telling how long sitting on death row." Patrillo didn't say a word but was staring at Matt looking even more scared than he had before. "You ever been there?" The suspect shook his head no. "I have. Not much fun at all. You know fourteen folks have committed suicide there since 1977. Guess they just couldn't wait, huh?" He stood up and headed for the door, then stopped and turned to look at the man. "I'd say helping us out might be the only thing standing between you and a needle in the arm – but with the delay in executions now, that could be a long time. Either way, your life is pretty much over." He walked on out into the hall and up to the coffee pot located behind Sanchez's desk, pouring himself a cup.

"Looks like it's about over." Luis Sanchez looked at Houston. "Guess it's worth having somebody hate my guts to catch the guy that shot the lieutenant."

Matt looked over at the squad room where Oxford was pounding on his keyboard. "I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. Somehow I've got a feeling he won't be around a whole lot longer." He drank a long swallow of the coffee and looked at his watch. "I'm going to go visit Hoyt and then I'm going home. It's been a long day." He downed the rest of the coffee and tossed the cup in the trash. "Thanks for your help by the way. I would nominate you for an Emmy…but I think you have to be a member of the Actors' Guild." Matt pushed the button for the elevator and disappeared.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

When Matt got to the hospital, Sheila was just about to leave for home. "That sure is a big smile. Did you miss me that much?" Matt stopped and got a hug from the nurse.

"No, not at all." She giggled. "I'm on my way to pick up Charles at the airport – he's about to process out." Sheila's husband was in the Marine Corps and had been stationed for the last two years in Afghanistan.

"Well congratulations! You two need to come to the ranch one night – I'd like to meet him." Matt gave her another hug.

"We might just do that – but you'll have to introduce him to Cricket. He doesn't believe a word I told him about that horse of yours." She was all smiles.

"Not a problem. She loves people. And you still haven't met Catey yet. Well, look: I know you two will want some time to yourselves, but after you get him tired out, call me." He gave her a big grin.

"You are terrible! You're right of course – but you're terrible just the same." She looked at her watch. "Gotta go. Sarge hates it if I'm late for anything!" She took off down the hall singing.

Matt eased the door to Hoyt's room open to find him and Anne sitting on the bed together talking. "Hmmm….that looks familiar. CJ and I did that very same thing after the truck bomb."

"So how did it go?" Hoyt turned off the TV and Matt came over and stood next to the bed.

"Nailed 'em." He grinned at his friend.

"Really? Damn that was quick!" Hoyt reached out his left hand to Matt who shook it. "Boy am I glad you're on my side. So what about the iguana?" By the time Matt got through the whole tail, Hoyt was wiping tears from his eyes from laughing so hard and Anne was blowing her nose. "He is gonna hate you. You know that, right?"

"Hell, he hated me from the moment he laid eyes on me. I didn't really have much to lose, now did I?" He laughed. After a few more minutes of talking with his friend, Matt looked at his watch and stood up. "Do you two need anything?"

"No, we're fine. They say I'll get out of here the day after tomorrow. And that's good, 'cause I know you're spoiling my baby." Hoyt grinned up at Matt.

"Nah, if anything she's spoiling us. She's really good with Catey, so don't be surprised if we call her to babysit pretty soon. CJ and I haven't been out on the town in quite a while." He wiggled his eyebrows, sending Anne into another fit of laughter. "Well I better go home before they put her on the loony bin floor. Y'all call me if you need me, okay?" He and Michael shook hands again as the lieutenant thanked him and he got a hug from Anne before walking out the door.


End file.
